HoYoverse's urban RPG, Zenless Zone Zero, hit a new milestone with the release of its Version 1.4 update. On December 18, 2024, the game achieved a record single-day gross revenue of $8.6 million across the App Store and Google Play.

According to AppMagic data, this marks the game's highest daily revenue on mobile, surpassing its launch peak of $8.1 million on July 5, 2023. The update continues the trend of substantial revenue spikes with new content drops, a hallmark of gacha games. Titles like Wuthering Waves, Goddess of Victory: Nikke, and HoYoverse's Genshin Impact also demonstrate this cyclical revenue pattern of peaks and troughs driven by content releases.

Version 1.4, titled A Storm of Falling Stars, far outperformed previous updates. It generated more than double the launch-day revenue of Version 1.3 ($3.6 million) and nearly tripled that of Version 1.2 ($2.8 million). By the end of its highly successful first week, Version 1.4 propelled the game’s total lifetime mobile revenue past $250 million.

Against All Odds

A Storm of Falling Stars introduced two highly anticipated Section 6 Agents, Hoshimi Miyabi and Asaba Harumasa, whose banners debuted on December 18. Both characters were made available in the game’s gacha system with low appearance rates, a typical feature of gacha titles.

For example, the Miyabi banner features a 0.6% appearance rate for S-rank agents, with Miyabi being one of seven characters in this category. Her desirability as a powerful addition to any roster motivated players to spend real money for additional pulls when their saved in-game currency ran out, especially with the guaranteed pity mechanic. Harumasa’s banner followed the same system.

Beyond new agents, Version 1.4 brought a wealth of fresh content and gameplay improvements. These included:

• New story content.

• Gameplay enhancements such as streamlined character progression, combat optimizations, and redesigned earlier story stages.

• New exploration locales: Port Elpis and Reverb Arena.

• A permanent new mode, Hollow Zero: Lost Void, offering opportunities to enhance agents and earn rare rewards.
  

A standout addition was the Quality Time feature, allowing players to interact with their agents in New Eridu. This mode enables players to explore the city alongside their agents, discover landmarks, and engage in activities that align with their characters’ interests. The feature not only deepens player connection to the characters but also rewards in-game progression, boosts Trust ranks, and encourages long-term engagement with new and existing agents.

The update also coincided with Zenless Zone Zero's launch on the PS5 Pro, further fueling the December 18 revenue peak.

Sustained Success

Player spending on Zenless Zone Zero typically declines to around $350,000 per day within a week after a major update. However, Version 1.4 broke this trend. The game maintained daily revenue above $1 million for 11 days and has continued to surpass $500,000 daily, even two weeks after the update.

The sustained spending may partly be attributed to another permanent addition, Deadly Assault. Released two days after the update, this endgame mode challenges players to defeat three bosses under a time limit, resetting progress periodically. The mode incentivizes stronger agent builds, tying directly back to the gacha system and fostering further spending.

A New Standard for Zenless Zone Zero

Whether Version 1.4 establishes a new revenue baseline remains uncertain, but it has set a high bar for Zenless Zone Zero. With its successful launch and innovative new features, the game has achieved a new record and surpassed its first quarter-billion dollars in lifetime revenue, securing its place as a leading title in HoYoverse’s portfolio.