Zenless Zone Zero’s collaboration with Aston Martin shows developers will take money from anyone

It is a known fact that at any given time, there are at least 47 collaborations happening in gaming. Yes, I may of made that up, but the spirit is there. For the most part they are innocuous and make sense, like Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, or FATE/Stay Night in Honkai: Star Rail. And then you have Aston Martin teaming with Zenless Zone Zero.

We could refer to this as the HoYo Scale. When the Holy Grail War came to Honkai it made sense. Penacony is a virtual world which gels with the Moon Cell, and Archer and Saber are perfect candidates to join in a scrap.

Please can you point me to any car in Zenless Zone Zero? Or any vehicle?

Last month, Aston Martin teamed up with PUBG Mobile, which definitely makes more sense. Vehicles are a great way to survive in PUBG provided you avoid explosives. That’s fine, it fits. And I love Aston Martins. I have too, I am British and I am into cars, it is the law, Aston and Jaguar. But it has no place in Honkai.

Even from a business standpoint, I don’t see the benefit. Unless Aston saw how much people spend on gacha, it is probably enough for a car to be fair. But, the biggest prize of this collaboration was a 1:18 scale model of a Vantage. With the best will in the world, who cares?

There are some nonsensical collaborations like Sabrina Carpenter and Fortnite that make no sense, but you know why it is happening. It is clout. I don’t like them, but you can understand. An Aston Martin and Zenless Zone Zero crossover has no merit, and we don’t need those kinds of events. It doesn’t keep players engaged, and if you are anything like me, it annoys because it could be something relevant or fun.

Bring on the next wave of collaborations.