Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR Viral videos show the Pixel 10 Pro XL completely glitching out while running the latest version of Genshin Impact.
The problems could be related to the Pixel 10 shipping with a PowerVR GPU, for which the game’s makers dropped support earlier this year.
A future driver update might fix performance issues, but if game developers keep dropping support for PowerVR GPUs, Google may need to rethink its strategy.
Videos showing the Pixel 10 Pro XL glitching while running one of the most popular Android games — Genshin Impact — have been circulating on social media over the weekend. In these clips, textures flicker, controls misbehave, and the screen tears apart after the latest update to the game, giving people another reason to heavily criticize Google’s choice of GPU this year. But are things really as bad as they appear?
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The issue evidently stems from Genshin Impact dropping support for PowerVR GPUs with its August update (v5.0, which introduced the Natlan region in the game). Google switched from ARM’s Mali GPUs to Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR series for the Pixel 10 lineup, specifically the PowerVR DXT-48-1536. This connection has fueled speculation that the Pixel 10 series is completely incompatible with the game.
However, in our early testing, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Diablo Immortal all installed and ran correctly on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Android Authority’s Robert Triggs played each title without noticing any performance or graphical issues similar to those appearing in the videos circulating online.
To check if the issue with Genshin Impact is recent, we also installed the game, complete with its latest update on our Pixel 10 Pro XL, and it seems to run just fine.
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