Honkai: Star Rail Interview: Penacony Reworks, Black Swan's Design, & Story Content Planning

is in the midst of a first-year anniversary that includes the arrival of Penacony, a new world for the Trailblazer and their ever-growing roster of companions to explore. Version 2.0 officially launched the lavish and spectacular location, which hides some dark secrets that are at the heart of an ongoing main story quest that has ramped up the stakes and created some of 's best moments so far.

is HoYoverse's latest high-profile game release following, and the two share similar daily gacha elements while diverging on combat and story beats. has been an instant hit with sustained success across PC, PlayStation, and mobile devices, and part of that can be attributed to how friendly it is to the latter, with a turn-based combat system that eschews the need for precise virtual D-Pad controls like some other games feature. Version 2.1 is now available and includes the highly sought after and extremely powerful Acheron, alongside the usual slew of content and gifts to players.

interviewed the development team about Version 2.0 & 2.1, the introduction of characters like Black Swan, how Penacony changed during development, and some of their favorite designs in recent memory.

Screen Rant: 's 2.0 introduces the first major location added to the game since launch. What sort of player feedback from the first months of the game were incorporated into the design of Penacony?

HSR Team: Ever since Honkai: Star Rail's official launch in April 2023, we've been deeply aware of the community's passion for exploring the depth of our game world and have received a lot of positive feedback about the details, such as the interactive trashcans and the system for characters to send messages amongst themselves. In designing Penacony, we've gone a step further to enrich interactive elements, introducing billboards that chase players on the streets, the Dreampeek Call which triggers other characters' dreams, and the Dreamscape Passport for collecting stickers, all designed to provide a more