Is Honkai: Star Rail free to play?

Is Honkai: Star Rail free to play?
Images via MiHoYo

Written by 

Dave McAdam

Published 

26th Apr 2023 09:36

Is Honkai: Star Rail free to play, like previous games from the developer? Honkai: Star Rail follows in the footsteps of its predecessor in many ways, but we are here to discuss one particular aspect. Free-to-play was a feature of Genshin Impact, but is it a feature of this game? Let's take a look to see if Honkai: Star Rail is free-to-play.

Is Honkai: Star Rail free to download?

A group of people make their way through a snow-covered canyon in Honkai: Star Rail
Click to enlarge

Much like Genshin, Honkai: Star Rail is indeed free to download and begin playing. The game is now available, so feel free to download it now on your platform of choice. The game is available on PC, mobile devices, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

Also, like Genshin, you do not need to pay to play the game, but there are methods by which you can spend money. Honkai: Star Rail is a gacha game, so be aware of that before jumping on.

Honkai: Star Rail microtransactions

Key art of a spaceship above a planet in Honkai: Star Rail
Click to enlarge

Anyone familiar with how microtransactions work in Genshin Impact will get to grips with Honkai: Star Rail quite quickly. For anyone unaware, in this game, you will accumulate a party of characters. There is a long list of characters which you can acquire and use in battles, and many you can get simply by playing.

However, you can also pay real money for character banners, which give you a random chance of acquiring high-level characters. Another feature brought forward from Genshin is the Pity system, which guarantees a 4-star character every 10 pulls, and a 5-star character every 90 pulls.

That is everything there is to know about how free-to-play works in Honkai: Star Rail. For more on the game, check out our Honkai: Star Rail open-world guide.

Check out more Honkai: Star Rail on GGRecon.

Dave McAdam
About the author
Dave McAdam
Dave is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon, after several years of freelancing across the industry. He covers a wide range of games, with particular focus on shooters like Destiny 2, RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
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