Genshin Impact maker HoYoverse is showing up to not-E3 2022, bringing Zenless Zone Zero to Summer Game Fest with never-before-seen footage. While we knew HoYoverse was one of the many developers supporting Geoff Keighley’s showcase before, there was no confirmation about what the action-RPG experts would reveal during the event. A recent Summer Game Fest trailer hinted at Zenless Zone Zero for a very brief moment, and show creator Geoff Keighley confirmed in a tweet that ZZZ is HoYoverse’s centerpiece reveal.
Zenless Zone Zero is a departure from Genshin Impact. It trades Teyvat’s sprawling hills and open spaces for an urban setting more akin to Square Enix’s The World Ends With You, with ramen shops, video stores, and the densely packed metropolis of New Eridu as its central setting.
As for what happened to old Eridu, it’s gone now, along with pretty much every vestige of Zenless Zone Zero’s world after a terrible apocalypse destroyed it. This disaster also introduced Hollows, an abnormal phenomenon that appears from nowhere and consumes everything around it.
The citizens of New Eridu – and Zenless Zone Zero’s playable characters, no doubt – are special because they can extract ether from Hollows and use it to power machines, buildings, and their own special abilities.
Zenless Zone Zero might not be the only thing HoYoverse has in store for Summer Game Fest. Some fans speculated the event’s first sizzle reel trailer hid a brief reference to something that looked rather like a Genshin Impact character, and one business analyst said HoYoverse will show a trailer for Genshin’s version 2.8 update at the event.
That seems a bit less likely considering Hoyoverse’s usual pattern for update trailers, though.
Also on the table for potential reveals is Honkai Star Rail, Hoyoverse’s turn-based spinoff based on the world of Honkai Impact. The game is currently running its second open beta, though apart from a few character teases, we’ve yet to see much from it.
If you’re after some more RPG goodness until then, check out the current run of Genshin Impact events and plan ahead for the next Genshin Impact banner by hoarding some of those event Primogems.