Honkai: Star Rail x Fate/stay night: Writers reveal details of the collaboration

Honkai Star Rail is gearing up for its first major collaboration with the Fate/stay night franchise. As we're just hours away from the official launch, two of the scriptwriters and key figures behind each title spoke out in an exclusive interview. Nasu Kinoko, scriptwriter and novelist for Fate/stay night, and Shaoji, the main writer for the Honkai series, shared some interesting details.

Honkai: Star Rail and Fate/stay night collaboration reveals new details

Nasu Kinoko is a novelist and screenwriter, known for iconic works such as Fate/stay night, Tsukihime, and The Garden of Sinners. As the creative mind behind the TYPE-MOON multiverse, he oversees world-building and the main story, in addition to serving as the main writer and creative director for Fate/Grand Order. Shaoji is the main writer for the Honkai series. A key narrative architect behind Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail, his high-quality storytelling has received widespread praise. He is currently the script director for the Penacony and Amphoreus story arcs in Honkai: Star Rail. The two had a special interview with Japanese outlet Denfami Nicogamer on July 8th, where they shared more details about the collaboration. Among them, we learned how the idea for the collaboration between the two franchises began, how the characters for the game were selected, and their feelings about working on the project.

How did the idea for the collaboration between Honkai: Star Rail and Fate/stay night come about?

Shaoji started by explaining how this collaboration came about. Initially, this being the first major collaboration for Honkai: Star Rail, he was very hesitant. But he remembered the words of one of the producers, who said that when you're stuck on ideas, it's best to think about what would make the fans happy, then the members of your staff, and finally yourself. He firmly believed that Fate/stay night would fit perfectly with the Honkai: Star Rail universe, especially visually. This union was perfect in many ways. Furthermore, within his work group, there were several fans of the Fate series, so that was another plus. Finally, they asked Shaoji if he was a fan too, and he confirmed it, closing this circle of three key elements: users, team, and himself. Having everything in place, he presented the proposal, receiving a positive response and launching the collaboration.

Kinoko's reaction to the collaboration

For her part, Kinoko also talked about how she felt about this collaboration between Honkai: Star Rail and Fate/stay night, starting by mentioning how she had already played HoYoverse titles before. She was even part of that audience that didn't feel so confident with Honkai: Star Rail when it was announced. The fact is that this was very different from the hugely successful Genshin Impact, especially because of its turn-based combat system. But seeing the title in action and how it grew over time was enough to turn fear into admiration. Although Fate/stay night was at a different stage than Honkai: Star Rail, and the idea, though desired by Kinoko, wasn't feasible at the time, when it came to fruition, everything changed. The Fate series' screenwriter was very excited and even impatient to be able to work on this collaboration.

How was the addition of three characters in the collaboration?

Another question related to the selection of the three characters who will be part of the collaboration, with Shaoji taking the floor. He described the selection as being as fluid as could be expected. Although there are many characters within the Fate/stay night franchise and collaborations are often rare, they settled on two. These will be Saber and Archer, who will be 5-star characters obtainable with their respective banners when the collaboration begins on July 11. But Shaoji also lamented the lack of Lancer as a playable character, even though he'll still be present as part of the story. While he won't be playable, his mere presence will be something fans will appreciate. The interview revealed a wealth of valuable information for fans of both franchises. This interview was originally organized by Japanese outlet Denfami Nicogamer, with the Japanese version published on July 8, 2025, at around 11 AM UTC+8. You can find the original article at this link, where you'll see each of the questions in detail, as well as some additional details and interactions between the writers.