Zenless Zone Zero review

This Zenless Zone Zero review is based on official sources and player reviews, not on our own play time. HoYoverse's urban fantasy action RPG launched on July 4, 2024, and is free on Windows (HoYoPlay, Steam and Epic), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android. Agents and W-Engines come from Signal Search, a gacha with published odds: 0.6% base for an S-Rank Agent, guaranteed within 90 pulls. Money buys Monochromes, the Inter-Knot Membership and New Eridu City Fund tiers.

What is Zenless Zone Zero?

Zenless Zone Zero is an urban fantasy action RPG developed and published by HoYoverse (COGNOSPHERE PTE. LTD.). It launched on July 4, 2024. You play a Proxy in New Eridu, the last surviving city after disasters called Hollows, guiding teams of Agents through those Hollows, fighting monsters called Ethereals and taking on commissions, according to the Steam page.

The ESRB describes it as an action role-playing game with fast melee-style combat against fantastical and human-like enemies, using swords, pistols, rifles and elemental attacks. Steam lists basic and special attacks, dodges, blocks and Chain Attacks as the core combat tools, and marks the game as single-player.

Version 3.3, "Journey to the Sky," went live on October 21, 2026. It adds two S-Rank Agents, Phoenix and Severian, and a mech combat mode in the main story where you pilot combat mechs with melee and ranged attacks; HoYoverse says this mode stays in future versions. The game has no PvP mode.

Is Zenless Zone Zero free to play?

Yes. Zenless Zone Zero is free to download everywhere. Steam lists it as Free To Play, and the App Store and Google Play list it as free with in-app purchases.

Polychrome is the currency that free players earn, and Encrypted Master Tapes are used for limited Signal Searches. Official notices show regular grants: Version 3.3 sent Polychrome ×300 as server update compensation, and its check-in events give a total of 10 Encrypted Master Tapes and 10 Boopons, according to HoYoverse.

Monochrome is the paid currency. Other purchases named in official notices are the New Eridu City Fund, cash-bought gifts, outfits and the Inter-Knot Membership. HoYoverse has also handed out a free Festival Edition of the membership through an event; its notice says that edition gives Polychrome ×300 at once and Polychrome ×90 for each daily login over 30 days. HoYoverse does not describe the membership as an automatic subscription.

Is Zenless Zone Zero pay to win? What money buys

Zenless Zone Zero has no PvP mode, so purchases only matter against the game itself. Here is what is for sale.

Agents and W-Engines come from Signal Search, a gacha. HoYoverse publishes the odds on an official probability page linked from the game's website. In the current Exclusive Channel, the base chance of an S-Rank Agent is 0.600%, the overall chance including the guarantee is 1.600%, and one is guaranteed within 90 searches. Each S-Rank has a 50% chance to be the limited Agent; if it is not, the next one is. The W-Engine Channel lists 1.000% base, 2.000% overall, a guarantee within 80 searches and a 75% chance that an S-Rank is the limited W-Engine.

As of October 30, 2026, the US App Store lists Monochrome from 300 for $4.99 to 6,480 for $99.99, the Inter-Knot Membership at $4.99, a Growth Plan at $9.99, a Premium Plan at $19.99, a Limited Gift at $14.99 and an Eridu Welcome Gift at $0.99. New Agent outfits are also sold; Phoenix's two outfits came as a discounted bundle in Version 3.3.

Based on what the official stores sell, we rate it as mildly pay to win; we will check this again when we play it ourselves.

Zenless Zone Zero on PC, Steam, consoles and mobile

On Windows, Zenless Zone Zero installs through HoYoverse's HoYoPlay launcher, linked from the official site, through Steam, where it launched on June 17, 2026, or through the Epic Games Store. HoYoverse says the Steam version works with existing accounts on mobile, PC, PS5 and Xbox, and in-game purchases are the same as on other clients. There is no macOS version.

Two Steam differences matter: it downloads updates only through Steam after maintenance begins, with no pre-download through HoYoPlay, and it installs the full game assets because the Resource Management feature is not supported.

On consoles, HoYoverse lists PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Cloud Gaming. On phones, the App Store requires iOS 14.0 or later and lists a download of about 4 GB, and the game is also on Google Play. Progress follows your HoYoverse account across platforms, and items bought on one platform show up on the others once accounts are linked.

Zenless Zone Zero system requirements

HoYoverse published the PC requirements with the Steam launch, and the Steam page lists the same figures.

Minimum: 64-bit Windows 10, a 7th-generation Intel Core i5, 8 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, DirectX 11 (HoYoverse's notice says DirectX 11.1 or later) and 75 GB of available storage.

Recommended: 64-bit Windows 10, a 10th-generation Intel Core i7, 8 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, DirectX 11 and 75 GB of storage.

Steam adds that a hard drive is supported but an SSD is recommended, and that a broadband internet connection is required. Steam also lists partial controller support, including DualShock and DualSense controllers. Because the Steam version always installs the full game assets, plan for the whole 75 GB there rather than a trimmed install.

Games like Zenless Zone Zero

These free character-collecting action RPGs from our catalog are the closest matches on paper:

Genshin Impact: HoYoverse's open-world action RPG on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox, iOS and Android, with a wish gacha that also guarantees a 5-star character within 90 pulls.

Honkai: Star Rail: HoYoverse's turn-based space fantasy RPG on PC, PS5, iOS and Android. A crossover bringing two Zenless Zone Zero Agents into it is planned for its Version 4.8.

Wuthering Waves: Kuro Games' open-world action RPG on Windows (including Steam), Mac, iOS, Android, PS5 and Xbox.

Arknights: Endfield: Hypergryph's real-time 3D RPG with factory building, released on January 22, 2026, on Windows, PS5, iOS and Android.

• Genshin Impact
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Wuthering Waves
• Arknights: Endfield