Genshin Impact’s latest Special Program has spilled all the beans on the game’s next major update, Luna 4. The update, which arrives on January 14, kicks off 2026 with several bits of new content, including some previously-teased characters.
Zenless Zone Zero’s latest Special Program has delivered the good news on Version 2.5, To Be Fuel for the Night. This chapter is a big deal for a few reasons, not least of which because it brings an end to Season 2.
Zenless Zone Zero brought some hot new information and a first look at its next major faction as part of The Game Awards 2025 ceremony. As part of the showcase, we got a glimpse of Ye Shunguang and Zhao - two upcoming Agents.
HoYoverse just hosted a sizeable Honkai: Star Rail Special Program, revealing more than just the game’s next major update. Version 3.8 was the big highlight, of course, with the new release arriving soon, on December 16-17 depending on your server region.
Genshin Impact comes to the Duolingo App, with a new collaborative 3-day streak quest and rewards.
The popular, free-to-play open-world adventure RPG, Genshin Impact, and the world’s most downloaded educational app, Duolingo, are teaming up for their first time. From December 8 to December 27, Paimon, Tighnari, and Cyno will join Duo to host a limited-time Genshin Impact x Duolingo 3-Day Streak Quest in the Duolingo app. Users who complete their learning exercises for three consecutive days will receive in-game rewards, including an event-exclusive Genshin Impact namecard, avatar, and Primogems.
So, what do you have to do? Starting December 8th, players and learners can unlock the special quest in any course on the Duolingo app. Complete one unit lesson daily for three consecutive days to maintain your learning streak and ultimately sculpt a collectible in-app statue of Paimon and Duo — a token of your persistence (plus a little magic from Teyvat).
Popular Genshin Impact characters Tighnari and Cyno, along with Duo and Paimon, will show up to cheer on learners. Those who complete the quest will receive exclusive rewards, including the avatar “Diligent Study,” namecard “Celebration: Dream Reader,” and a unique Sumeru-style dish “Spiced Fried Chicken” along with its recipe. The reward redemption code can be claimed from the “Shop” page in the Duolingo app before December 30th, 2025, 23:59:59 (UTC) and redeemed in Genshin Impact before January 31, 2026, 15:59:59 (UTC).
The collaboration follows the recently released Genshin Impact Version Luna III, which introduced Durin, a new 5-Star Pyro character with dual battle forms, and a new story chapter set in Nod-Krai. The official collab quest will be available in select regions from December 8 to December 27. December 25 is the last day for learners to join the Quest and earn rewards. Event availability varies by region. Learners can check participation details for their region in the Duolingo app.
Duolingo is the most downloaded education app worldwide, offering lessons for various subjects like math, music, and chess. Oh, and most importantly, the app offers learning over 250 total language courses from Spanish, French, German, and Japanese to Navajo and Yiddish. So, what better way to learn about one of these topics than with some friends from Genshin Impact, led by the best guide in all of Teyvat.
There are a few ways to join the Quest, so be sure to double check the rules!
SacAnime Winter 2026 is around the corner but the guest list continues to grow with the inclusion of Keith Silverstein.
The post Keith Silverstein is Coming to SacAnime Winter 2026 appeared first on 8Bit/Digi.
Silicon Valley FandomCon 2026 is still a few months away but the guest list continues to grow with the inclusion of Alexis Tipton.
The post Alexis Tipton is Coming to Silicon Valley FandomCon 2026 appeared first on 8Bit/Digi.
As the launch of Genshin Impact Version Luna III approaches on PlayStation 5, which features the new playable character Durin and fresh updates to the story in Nod-Krai, we’re excited to reveal the DualSense Wireless Controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition. The new controller features an ethereal white, gold, and green palette adorned with arcane glyphs of a fantasy realm, including emblems of Traveler Twins Aether and Lumine and their trusted companion guide, Paimon.
To create this special design, inspired by the magical realm of adventure within Genshin Impact, our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment collaborated closely with HoYoverse. Here’s Wenyi Jin, President of Global Publishing and Operation at HoYoverse, to share more about the controller:
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to present the DualSense Wireless Controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition to our players and fans around the world. The controller features iconic design elements inspired by Genshin Impact’s beloved Traveler Twins and Paimon, celebrating years of adventure and companionship in Teyvat, alongside our cherished memories with the community. We hope that Travelers will enjoy the company of the controller and continue to expand their adventure in Genshin Impact!”
Begin an epic fantasy adventure, build your team, and master the seven elements with this new limited edition controller. Players can continue their saga on PS5 with innovative console and DualSense controller features that enhance the gameplay experience – explore Teyvat and uncover its secrets with features including immersive haptic feedback, support for breathtaking 4K visuals, and lightning-fast loading times.
The DualSense wireless controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition will be available in limited quantities for a recommended retail price of $84.99 / €84.99 / £74.99 / ¥12,480. Pre-orders start on December 11, 2025 at direct.playstation.com as well as from select retailers.
Starting from January 21, 2026, the controller will launch in select markets across Asia, including Japan. Additionally, starting from February 25, 2026, the controller will launch in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The exact launch date and availability for the controller may vary by country/region.
Starting December 11, 2025 at 10am ET in the U.S., and 10am local time in the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, players will be able to pre-order the DualSense wireless controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition through direct.playstation.com in limited quantities.
When ordering directly from PlayStation, enjoy free launch day delivery for eligible pre-orders. Visit direct.playstation.com for more details.
Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse has just revealed half an hour of gameplay of Varsapura, a new open-world game with shades of Control and LA Noire. The studio has really been branching out in all directions lately, between the creature-collecting Honkai: Nexus Anima and Stardew rival Petit Planet, but Varsapura is already looking the most interesting to me. Set in what appears to be modern-day Singapore with a mixture of paranormal investigation, dialogue choices, stealth sequences, and combat that takes notes from Zenless Zone Zero against a shadowy foe powered by the 'Mindrot,' it's already grabbed my attention.
Read the full story on PCGamesN: Genshin Impact's flashy combat and Control's paranormal vibes collide in a new Hoyoverse game, and I'm immediately hooked
When the 2.4 patch for Zenless Zone Zero appears, it won’t include some voice acting from actors for major characters like Dialyn and Ye Shunshang and minor NPCs. HoYoVerse noted these will be absent, but didn’t explain why. The company did say it will send out 100 Polychromes as an apology ahead of those eventually being added to the game.
HoYoVerse noted this voice acting issue in Zenless Zone Zero will apply to Dialyn, Ye Shunshang, and “certain NPCs” in three languages. The Chinese option won’t be affected, but English, Japanese, and Korean ones will. The quest with the missing lines will be "On the Precipice of the Abyss.” It also seems like the new character Banyue, who also debuts in 2.4, won't be affected.
This voice acting absence in Zenless Zone Zero could end up feeling greater for someone like Dialyn than Ye Shunshang, which is due to the fact that the latter isn’t officially joining the roster as as a playable character until 2.5. This could also mean her role in the "On the Precipice of the Abyss” questline might not be as large.
You can hear more of Dialyn's English voice in a new Zenless Zone Zero character trailer. It features her judging a criminal.
Zenless Zone Zero is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and the 2.4 update arrives on November 26, 2025.
The post 2.4 Zenless Zone Zero Won’t Have Some Dialyn and Ye Shunshang Voice Acting appeared first on Siliconera.
The latest HoYoverse Special Program has brought us big Genshin Impact news. Version Luna 3 has been fully revealed, continuing the Nod-Krai story. The new chapter arrives December 3 across all platforms.
Zenless Zone Zero’s latest Special Program was a big one, bringing us all the news about Version 2.4, the next major update. It’s called On the Precipice of the Abyss, and it will be available to download on November 26.
Chinese developer miHoYo, the studio behind the popular Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero, is working on a new game that will be much different from anything it has released so far. As spotted on the ResetERA forums, the developer is currently working on a fantasy open-world MMO featuring realistic graphics, PvP, an AI-stimulated ecological system, large-scale boss fights, and advanced AI-powered NPCs. These new features will mark a significant shift in gameplay terms, and a considerable step forward from the games the developer is currently supporting. Besides sharing the first information on the yet to be named game, miHoYo released […]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/genshin-impact-developer-mihoyo-will-go-for-realistic-graphics-for-its-unreal-engine-5-open-world-game/
Mitchie M is known for “Hatsune Miku realistic singing” songs, and the Vocaloid composer and HoYoVerse shared a new Honkai: Star Rail track called “Memi Memi Myun Myun” starring Mem for HoYoFair2025. As the name suggests, it is completely focused on the Memosprite from Amphoreous. It is paired with an animated music video of the character from Jun Aoki and Space Neko Company.
There are a few spoilers near the end of the music video in the form of backup dancers for Mem, but this Honkai: Star Rail track primarily focuses on the mascot-style character. As a reminder, we almost immediately meet Mem in the Amphoreus storyline of the game. When the Trailblazer gets their Remembrance path role, she serves as the Memosprite we can summon to aid and attack alongside the party. The Gray-mera Chimera based on the Trailblazer character shows up as a DJ and dancer at some points too.
Here’s the full “Memi Memi Myun Myun” Honkai: Star Rail from Hatsune Miku composer Mitchie M from YouTube. There are only Japanese subtitle options. The “spoiler” backup dancers come up after the 2:09 mark.
This Mitchie M Honkai: Star Rail song about M isn’t the only recent one about video game or anime characters, as the Vocaloid composer contibuted “What Kind of Future” to the Project Voltage project pairing up Hatsune Miku with Pokemon and created a track called “Idol Senshi” for Gundam x Miku.
You can see the Project Voltage song “What Kind of Future” below:
And here’s “Idol Senshi.” A figure was even made based on this music video.
Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and a Cyrene banner is now live alongside the 3.7 update.
The post Hatsune Miku Composer Mitchie M Made Honkai: Star Rail Mem Song appeared first on Siliconera.
During the 2025 Tokyo Game Show, HoYoVerse officially announced Petit Planet, its life sim game designed to offer an Animal Crossing style experience. At the time, only initial teasers and the promise of a November 2025 Coziness Test closed beta appeared. Now that’s upon us and, as expected, this does feel inspired by Nintendo’s title. However, after spending some time testing an in-progress build out, I feel like it is a little more task-focused than something like Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Petit Planet begins with Loomi Corp giving our avatars a chance to develop their own uninhabited planet, with the help of employees Mobai, Glenn, and Esassani. Mobai is something of the Tom Nook mentor here, though he jokes that initial residence comes without any kind of loan or financial commitment. Glenn handles the shop on our fledgeling planet. Esassani acts as our chauffeur to take us through the Starsea in our car. After picking our planet type, of which there were a Golden Prairie with a hot and dry Taffeh one and Verdant Plains warm and humid one in the Hexia galaxy during the beta, we head off. Upon landing, we get to set up a home and plant a Lucaseed that will grow into a tree that influences this world. As we go through different campaign tasks, we eventually get a special kind of Luca liquid that allows it to grow and unlock new elements like kinds of life, cosmetic changes, and features like the ability to dig up stuff or engage in more farming.
From there, the gameplay flow HoYoVerse created in Petit Planet does feel a lot like life sims such as Animal Crossing and Hello Kitty: Island Adventure. It follows a real-world clock after you get past a certain point of the tutorial. So some quests, once completed, won’t completely go through and show the results until the next day. For example, Glenn’s shop will open the next day after you get the materials for it, and as will Mors’ ecological habitat for insects, fish, and shore-dwelling creatures you collect with tongs. The in-progress build in the test made a cooking station with pot available for recipes right away, with a crafting table and kiosk for purchases like larger houses, Starsea car-travel related items, and cosmetics.
Two types of currency are present in-game during this test. Dough is earned via things like quests or selling items you collect or craft. This can be spent at Glenn's store for items like furniture, seeds, and clothing. We collect stars earned via collecting Footsteps milestones for performing actions like hitting trees or rocks with your Mattock, crafting, collecting wildlife, and similar sorts of activities. This can be spent at the Loomi Co kiosk, specifically on new hairstyles, clothing, accessories, and furniture in this closed beta. Stamina is another element we need to manage, but it’s easily refilled by eating a quick prepared meal made from wildlife, fruit, and vegetables found on the island or a snack like a Mango.
But as I mentioned at the outset, one of my strongest impressions in Petit Planet so far is that it feels like HoYoVerse prioritized completing quests more in this game than than Nintendo did in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, even though so much of it does feel like that title. I’d almost say it’s more like Hello Kitty: Island Adventure in terms of constantly available main and side missions. These can be found on the main and neighbor tabs in the menu, with the ability to track all of them. (Tracking can get extremely detailed, which I appreciate, since it can even be tied to specific materials needed for certain assignments.) After you get past a certain point in the tutorial, each day begins with a dispatch Tala’s Miracle Parade: Shortwave News Buzz, and then you move on to daily tasks. From there, you can go about collecting daily resources like wood and sap from trees, crops from farming plots, ore from regenerated rocks, and regrown flowers and grasses.
While there are those tasks constantly lining up, Petit Planet does feel a little more relaxed when it comes to maintaining relationships with the anthropomorphic animal neighbors who come to our island. There is a friendship system in place, with their page in our indexes showing their name, birthday, planet, bond level, gifts they love, like, and dislike, some initial about tidbits, a log of actions, and a Journey section that lets us put earned Archiboos from daily actions toward improving our relationships. There’s no threat of them moving away in this closed beta, and the nature of it makes me suspect that won’t be present in the full game. The two initial ones I encountered in this trial are Yunguo, a red panda, and Msafiri, who appears to be a snow leopard. The initial introductory neighbor-specific questlines for them involved helping them with initial tasks, asking them to move, placing their homes, getting and crafting them each three pieces of furniture for their new homes, getting their larger residences from the Loomi kiosk, and collecting the building materials for those. Talking to them casually could result in getting a free material. Checking in might result in a quick quest. But initially, it seems HoYoVerse designed them to offer Hello Kitty: Island Adventure style bonding quests and relationship tiers along with Animal Crossing companionship in Petit Planet.
When I first saw Petit Planet, I absolutely saw how HoYoVerse used Animal Crossing as an inspiration for their own life sim, but after early hours with the in-progress game via the beta, it also feels more task-focused like Hello Kitty: Island Adventure too. It seems like there will be a lot of relaxing, low-pressure activities. However, it does seem very quest-focused, with mainline campaign and neighbor assignments to keep us busy each day. Of course, during my play sessions I was determined to do as much as possible as quickly as possible. Which would mean seeing a lot of constant mission notifications and assignments in my queue. But even so, my initial Petit Planet impressions is that this HoYoVerse approach to Animal Crossing will involve a lot more Hello Kitty: Island Adventure style assignments.
Petit Planet is in development for PCs and mobile devices, and the closed Coziness Test beta is live now.
The post Preview: Petit Planet Is More Task-Focused Than Animal Crossing appeared first on Siliconera.
Yidhari is about to become the latest Spook Shack character and new S-rank Agent in Zenless Zone Zero, and HoYoVerse shared a new Character Demo type trailer going over her moveset and gameplay. It’s unique in that, as she’s a writer, she actually created the scenario and situation we watch.
Yidhari is an Ice type Agent in the game, and she’ll be the third Rupture type one to debut. This role only appeared in Zenless Zone Zero starting with 2.0, with Yunkui Summit’s Yixuan and fellow Spook Shack character Komano Manato being the only other two. That means she’s a DPS designed to hit incredibly hard. Her video begins with her setting the stage for a scenario with an Ethereal at a subway station. Fortunately, she’s there to hit back with her hammer. From there, animated segments are interspersed into it.
Here’s the “Self-Directed, Starring Myself” Zenless Zone Zero trailer.
This is one of multiple Zenless Zone Zero trailers that showcased new Spook Squad character Yidhari. One of the first one involved her “calling” the player character to tell them a scary story. You can hear that one below:
The other one focuses on the fact that she’s something of a “sea monster” due to being an octopus Thiren. It casts her as the entity who haunts a town, with three rumors hinting at her.
Zenless Zone Zero is available on the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and the Yidhari banner starts on November 5, 2025. A Lucia banner is just about to end.
The post Yidhari ‘Wrote’ Her Own Zenless Zone Zero Character Demo Trailer appeared first on Siliconera.
