Honkai: Star Railhas already begun to live up to its predecessor in a number of ways. Of course,Genshin Impact’s legacy is still unrivaled by most games in the gacha sphere. However, its successors from MiHoYo have certainly begun to catch up in sales, among other things.Honkai: Star Railhas recently announced its largest scale crossover yet, which could again help it outpaceGenshin Impact.
Honkai: Star Railrecently announced that it would be commencing aFate/Stay Nightcollaboration in Quarter 3 of 2025. This crossover is largely unprecedented.Fateis a burgeoning anime IP the likes of whichHonkai: Star Railhasn’t been involved with yet, and it could become the game’s largest scale collaboration yet.
Honkai: Star Rail’s Fate/Stay Night Collab May Be its Biggest Crossover Yet
Honkai: Star Rail’s Fate Crossover is a Pleasant Surprise, but Not Unprecedented
Honkai: Star Rail’s sudden announcement of aFate/Stay Nightcollaboration certainly came as a surprise, though the potential has already made itself clear. First and foremost, bothStar RailandFatehave extremely dedicated communities, and it’s not hard to imagine there being some overlap there.
Despite this, it’s most definitely possible that this collaboration will play out on a relatively small scale. In fact, most previous MiHoYo crossovers have done just that. However, there is a clear difference betweenGenshin Impactrestaurant crossoversandHonkai: Star Railcrossing over with a pretty significant anime series.
Honkai: Star Rail Can Learn from One Genshin Impact Crossover
Honkai: Star Railhas certainly had fewer collabs than other MiHoYo games. Though it’s only been out for a few short weeks,Zenless Zone Zero’s crossover potentialhas already been trailblazing at a much faster pace. Likewise,Genshin Impactstill seems to have tackled the largest scale crossover so far.
Genshin,Star Rail, andZenless Zone Zeroall share one thing in common that unites them as peers: due to the nature of gacha games, their highest priority will always be characters. More than anything, games likeGenshin Impactsurvive through appealing character designs. Despite this,Star Railhas never tried its hand at a crossover character, somethingGenshinhas its successors beat at.
Genshin Impact’s one and only crossover characterwas Aloy fromHorizon Zero Dawn. Although crossover characters seem like a no-brainer for any collaboration, Aloy received a lukewarm reception. The event meant to roll out her inclusion never fully panned out, leaving her to become one of the least played characters in the game.
Honkai: Star Rail Could Feature Fate/Stay Night’s Most Popular Characters
MiHoYo has certainly evolved a lot in the years that followed, and now could be the perfect time to flex their muscles once more. A previous crossover character falling short may actually increase the chances of a new one down the line, rather than hold one back. With that being said,Fate/Stay Nightis certainly an interesting seriesto work with, and a worthy choice too.
There are severalnotable characters from theFateserieswho lend themselves very well to crossovers, and this is doubly true forStay Nightin particular. Saber is the face of the series as a whole, and is arguably at her most plot relevant inStay Night. Other characters fromFate/Stay Nightwho tend to be involved in crossovers include Rin Tohsaka, and her servant Archer.
The Ideal Route for Honkai: Star Rail’s Upcoming Crossover
However, even if the upcomingHonkai: Star Railevent doesn’t utilize existingFatecharacters, there’s an even more compelling route developers could take.Fateheavily revolves around theHoly Grail War, in which any number of magically inclined contestants summon Heroic Spirits to do battle for them.
These Heroic Spirits areFate’s fictionalized versions of historical figures and folk heroes alike. For example,Fate/Stay Night’s Saberis a version of King Arthur that was secretly a woman. IfHonkai: Star Railwants to truly swing for the fences, the developers at HoYoverse could work closely withFateseries developers and create brand new Heroic Spirits for the event.
While it’s not yet clear what scale the collab will be, the release window may signal that big things are coming after all. It’s entirely possible that this crossover only goes so far as a few cosmetics. However, seeing as it’s already going to beHonkai: Star Rail’s biggest crossover yet, it would be best to make full use ofFate’s vast potential.
Honkai: Star Rail
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