MiHoYo has expressed an openness to bringing their recently released Zenless Zone Zero to Nintendo’s next platform.
As translated by NintendoEverything, Zenless Zone Zero‘s producer Zhenyu Li addressed this question in an interview with Japanese video game magazine Famitsu. This was what Li said:
“Currently our highest priority is increasing the quality regarding the platforms that we plan to work with. As we continue the development process, we think we will find the possibilities for this.
Of course, there is an assumption it will be made into an excellent experience, and as a personal fan of Nintendo I will be very happy to see that become a reality.”
MiHoYo has expressed similar sentiments before about desiring to bring Genshin Impact to Nintendo’s current platform, the Switch. However, as we know, the Chinese game company has yet to publish any of their games to Nintendo. A nice sentiment is one thing, but all of this certainly feels like empty talk from the company.
There is no impediment for MiHoYo to bring their games to the Switch on a technical level. Other game companies have brought their mobile and free-to-play games, such as Fortnite, Dauntless, and Warframe, to the console.
We also know that MiHoYo is not lacking for funding to make this happen, when they are literally invested in an experimental nuclear power facility, to the tune of $ 65 million.
It’s possible that Genshin Impact did not ultimately make it over to the Switch because of the contract that MiHoYo signed with Sony to bring it to the PlayStation 5. Similarly, Zenless Zone Zero is available on the PlayStation 5, but not on the Switch, or for that matter, the Xbox Series consoles.
MiHoYo has emerged as one of the biggest video game companies, not just in China, but around the world, on the strength of Genshin Impact. Not everyone wants to play their games because of their monetization, but they are riding the wave of the biggest gaming trends. So far, there’s no reason to believe that these trends on free-to-play are ending, and MiHoYo has demonstrated a real knack for game design that doesn’t just rely on creating addiction.
It is hard to argue that Nintendo needs MiHoYo, necessarily, on the Switch or their next console. It’s the Switch that is currently the frontrunner on the game console race, and the platform is set to become the best-selling of all time. MiHoYo could definitely make more money as part of that platform, or the next one, but perhaps what they can do now is the limits of their capacity, or what preexisting contracts allow them to do.
