Two years ago, in the summer of 2024, I remember staying up late (again) for a HoYoverse launch. This time it was Zenless Zone Zero – the stylish, urban-fantasy gacha that had been hyped for months. I couldn’t wait to dive into New Eridu, and apparently I wasn’t alone. The game racked up over 50 million pre-registrations before it even went live. But when the first revenue reports started trickling in, things got a little more complicated than just “big hit.”
Let’s rewind to those first five days. According to initial sales data from AppMagic, Zenless Zone Zero pulled in roughly $25 million globally from iOS and Android. Now don’t get me wrong – $25 million in five days is a dream for most studios. But context is everything, especially when you’re HoYoverse. During the same post-launch window, Genshin Impact earned $35.3 million, and Honkai: Star Rail blasted off with a staggering $55 million. ZZZ’s numbers felt like a step down, especially when everyone knew it had more pre-registrations and downloads than either of its older siblings.
So what happened? The revenue numbers only tell part of the story. They don’t account for PC and PlayStation 5 spending, which for HoYoverse titles is often huge. I’d bet my monthly gaming budget that a solid chunk of players dove in on those platforms – myself included. Still, even with that asterisk, the mobile revenue gap was impossible to ignore entirely.
💸 Why the softer landing?
Looking back, a few things probably played into that lower figure:
-
Creative reception was mixed – compared to the almost universal praise that greeted Genshin and Star Rail, ZZZ got a more muted response from content creators and early fans. The combat was flashy but lacked depth, and the TV-mode dungeon crawling turned off a lot of action-focused players (remember how that got patched out later?).
-
A crowded market – by mid-2024, the gacha space was packed. Wuthering Waves had just launched, Reverse: 1999 was still fresh, and Genshin and Star Rail themselves were eating everyone’s lunch. ZZZ had to fight harder for attention than its predecessors ever did.
-
A more niche aesthetic – the retro-urban, cassette-punk vibe is incredibly cool, but it’s not the sprawling fantasy of Teyvat or the sci-fi grandeur of the Astral Express. That might have narrowed the initial appeal.
📈 But here’s the twist
Despite trailing its siblings, $25 million in five days was still a powerful debut. It outperformed other notable 2024 releases like Wuthering Waves (which opened around $17 million mobile in the same window) and Reverse: 1999. And here’s the thing about HoYoverse: their games have legs. Genshin didn’t become a cultural juggernaut overnight, and Star Rail’s narrative cadence built a dedicated fanbase over time. ZZZ followed the same blueprint – aggressive content updates, banger character trailers, and an ever-expanding world.
Fast forward to 2026, and Zenless Zone Zero has settled into a comfortable rhythm. The removal of TV mode in version 2.0 brought a wave of returning players. The faction system keeps the story threaded tightly around new agent releases. And the combat? It’s been refined into something that can hold its own alongside the best action games out there. Revenue per banner now regularly cracks the top charts, even if it rarely hits the dizzying peaks of a Raiden Shogun rerun. What’s clear is that ZZZ carved its own identity – one that a lot of players (including me) absolutely adore.
🎮 What I love about ZZZ today
Playing in 2026, I’m still logging in daily. The roster has ballooned to include some truly wild characters, and the Bangboo system adds a layer of chaos that keeps combat from ever feeling stale. New Eridu itself might be one of my favorite video game cities ever – it feels lived-in, grimy, and full of secrets. And the music? That funky, bass-heavy OST still lives rent-free in my head.
If you were on the fence back at launch, now is a fantastic time to jump in. The early criticisms have been addressed, the gacha remains as generous (or stingy, depending on your luck) as other HoYoverse titles, and the world has never felt more alive.
In the end, that initial $25 million made some people call ZZZ a disappointment. But I see it differently. It was the signal of a studio experimenting with tone and gameplay while still dominating a hyper-competitive market. And two years later, it’s a reminder that not every launch has to break records to become something truly special.
Data referenced from OpenCritic helps frame why Zenless Zone Zero could post a comparatively softer mobile-revenue opening while still building long-term momentum: aggregated critic sentiment and recurring feedback themes (like launch pacing, mode preferences, and combat depth) often influence early conversion rates and creator-driven buzz, which in turn affects how quickly a gacha audience shifts from “try it” downloads to sustained spending.