Zenless Zone Zero achieves record revenue during Version 1.4 as it surpasses $250m on mobile

• Zenless Zone Zero has generated $265.7 million in lifetime revenue across Google Play and the App Store
• The Version 1.4 update on December 18th, 2024 triggered its most lucrative day on mobile yet

HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero achieved record daily revenue with the launch of its Version 1.4 update, with a new single-day peak of $8.6 million in gross player spending between the App Store and Google Play on December 18th, 2024.

According to AppMagic data, the new release outperformed any individual day on mobile during Zenless Zone Zero’s launch period, which peaked at $8.1 million on July 5th last year.

Updates have consistently triggered spikes in player spending for Zenless Zone Zero, with new characters, story content and more released in sudden bursts. It’s a model commonly used in gacha titles and the resultant revenue pattern — comprised of frequent peaks and troughs — can be seen across games like Wuthering Waves, Goddess of Victory: Nikke and HoYoverse’s own Genshin Impact.

The launch day of Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.4 was more than twice as lucrative as 1.3, which made just $3.6 million on mobile upon release. It also tripled 1.2’s $2.8 million launch.

Furthermore, 1.4’s highly successful first week pushed the title beyond $250 million in lifetime mobile revenue.

Against all odds

Officially titled A Storm of Falling Stars, Version 1.4 introduced the highly anticipated Section 6 Agents Hoshimi Miyabi and Asaba Harumasa on December 18th. They were long-awaited arrivals and inevitably contributed to Version 1.4’s strong start, released into the gacha and available at low odds in exchange for in-game currency.

In the current Miyabi banner, for example, S-rank agents have a 0.6% appearance rate and Miyabi herself is one of seven among them, making the odds of obtaining her incredibly low. But as a highly desirable, powerful new character, players who fail to obtain her with their saved-up resources could spend real money in exchange for more attempts, building towards a guaranteed pity pull. Harumasa’s banner has the same odds.

But these rare characters aren’t the only driving force behind 1.4, as the update also introduced new story content and overhauled a number of gameplay mechanics, such as streamlining character upgrades and progression, optimising combat and redesigning earlier story stages.

The update also added the new locales Port Elpis and Reverb Arena to explore, plus a permanent new gameplay mode called Hollow Zero: Lost Void, where players can enhance their agents’ abilities and earn rare rewards.

Crucially, Version 1.4 also added a new way for players to interact with their acquired agents, called Quality Time. While spending time with specific agents has been a feature since launch, this new mode allows players to wander through New Eridu with them and seek out landmarks and activities those characters find interesting.

This not only adds extra activities to perform with characters, but offers in-game rewards, increases that character’s Trust rank, and could prove a lucrative long-term bet if fans become invested in more agents as a result, forming new favourites and spending on alts of them down the line.

Zenless Zone Zero’s most lucrative day on mobile, December 18th, also coincided with the game’s launch on PS5 Pro.

Spending spree

Typically, player spending on mobile has petered out to around $350,000 per day approximately one week after a major version update, but 1.4 has broken this trend too. The game took 11 days to drop back below $1 million per day and has continued to surpass $500,000 in daily spending more than two weeks on from the update.

Though still a far fall from $8.6 million on December 18th, this sustained rise in spending may be partly attributable to yet another permanent new game mode, Deadly Assault. The mode launched two days after the update on December 20th as a challenging addition for experienced players — the current endgame-style content with three bosses to overcome.

Players have a limited time to complete the mode and earn rewards before progress resets, encouraging them to return, face some of the game’s toughest challenges, and collect rewards again. Naturally, the stronger agents they build, the easier these bosses become to conquer and the more rewards they can claim, feeding into the gameplay loop and once more tying back to the gacha.

Whether 1.4 will set a new baseline for Zenless Zone Zero remains to be seen, but for now it’s clear that it’s set a new record for the RPG, and helped to push the game beyond its first quarter-billion dollars.

Still, it’s no Genshin Impact yet.

Learn more about mobile game monetisation at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 20th to 21st.