Courtney Lin, a voice actress for Zenless Zone Zero and Honkai: Star Rail has been replaced after appearing to signal boost the Genshin Impact and HoYoverse boycott.
Screenshot of HuoHuo in Honkai: Star Rail (2023), HoYoverse
As first reported by YouTuber Hero Hei, HoYoverse announced that Lin had been replaced as HuoHuo in Honkai: Star Rail at the end of July, and most recently announced she had been replaced as Lucy in Zenless Zone Zero on August 14th.
On July 31st, HoYoverse announced as part of their Version 2.4 “Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue” Update that the voice actors for Argenti, HuoHuo, and Tail had been replaced.
The patch notes state, “Adjusts the English voice artists and voice-overs for the character Argenti (Erudition: Physical), Huohuo (Abundance: Wind), and Tail. Additionally, the issue of missing English voice-over for Argenti (Erudition: Physical) in some previous story dialogues has been fixed.”
Similarly, the patch notes for Zenless Zone Zero’s Version 1.1 “Undercover R&B” Update Details state, “Changed the English voice actors for Agents ‘Lucy’ and ‘Soukaku,’ and replaced the corresponding voice lines.”
Key art for HuoHuo in Honkai: Star Rail (2023), HoYoverse
Lin was replaced after she appeared to signal her support for the Genshin Impact and HoYoverse boycott. She posted on July 14th, “Oof jumping back on twitter to say your voices matter and I’m so proud of our community for using theirs! Retweet, email, speak up. Our community is strong.”
Courtney Lin on X
This post was made two days after the HYV Boycott account was created on X and posted, “I think it’s safe to say that we have all had enough of the erasure of our cultures and identities. Today I introduce you all to Boycott Hoyoverse. We will be an account sharing how you can boycott. Spread the word! Anything helps.”
HYV Boycott on X
Furthermore, it was made six days before SAG-AFTRA announced that its National Board had given power to its Chief Negotiator to declare a strike. So it’s unlikely the community she was referring to was striking voice actors.
SAG-AFTRA News on X
Interestingly, an individual who uses the name Valeria Rodriguez and is the voice actor of Genshin Impact’s Sucrose appeared to confirm that Lin was indeed supporting the Genshin Impact and HoYoverse boycott.
On X, Rodriguez wrote, “I’m in the comments verbally beating haters, V Nation- join me in my crusade. Courtney is an incredibly kind and caring human being. She doesn’t deserve this. TO ARMS!!! (I can’t post about any video game stuff but let’s bond over this)
When asked for context, Rodriguez explained, “Doesn’t really matter at the end of the day- very few ppl deserve the s**t some of these losers are saying. She was part of the folks saying they wished there was better rep in G3nshin, then left Twt for a bit. Then came back and all the haters came out to sht on her.”
A person using the name Valeria Rodriguez on X
In another post, Rodriguez accused anyone of mocking Lin for losing her roles as HuoHuo and Lucy.
Rodriguez wrote, “It’s more so the racist G3nshin fans coming out of the woodwork because she dared to agree with us wanting better representation, sorta thing. But yeah.”
A person using the name Valeria Rodriguez on X
As for why Lin was replaced it’s unclear. Marco Wurtz at Sports Illustrated believes she was not replaced due to the SAG-AFTRA strike because Zenless Zone Zero’s “English dub is handled by Sound Cadence Studios, which is not one of the organizations struck by the current union action. Neither is Rocket Sound, the studio dealing with Honkai: Star Rail’s English voices.”
He speculates it’s either due to “contract issues of the VAs themselves stepping down for personal reasons.” However, it’s possible HoYoverse canned her for supporting the boycott.
Screenshot of HuoHuo in Honkai: Star Rail (2023), HoYoverse
What do you make of Courtney Lin getting replaced by HoYoverse in both Zenless Zone Zero and Honkai: Star Rail?
