HoYoverse's new game "Zenless Zone Zero" has been officially released in the global market for nearly a month. During the pre-download phase, it topped the iOS free charts in 99 countries and regions worldwide. The game is available on iOS, Android, and PC.
According to
FoxData, the game achieved 15.86 million downloads on the Apple Store and Google Play platforms in its release month of July.
The record-breaking download numbers at launch also brought substantial revenue for "Zenless Zone Zero," with overseas mobile revenue estimates surpassing those of "Honkai: Star Rail" and "Wuthering Waves" during their initial release periods.
This indicates that it is indeed a very successful game, doesn't it?
However, why do so many industry insiders and players remain skeptical about the game's long-term prospects just 10 days after its release?
Since its launch on July 4th, "Zenless Zone Zero" has seen a rapid decline in rankings on the Apple App Store in major markets such as the United States, China, and Japan.
The U.S. market, which holds the second-largest market share, experienced -the most significant drop. The game maintained the top spot on the free games chart for only three days before beginning to decline, now ranking at 145th on the overall games chart.
How exactly is this game performing in the market? Let's dive in and explore it together!
Zenless Zone Zero's Performance on Mobile Platforms
Downloads
With the prestigious brand of HoYoverse backing it, combined with the game's unique charm, "Zenless Zone Zero" achieved impressive downloads during its initial launch phase.
However, it peaked at the beginning. According to estimated download trends from the App Store, the game's download volume has shown an overall declining trend since its release on July 2nd. There was even a sharp drop in downloads during the initial release period from July 2nd to July 8th.
The performance on Android channels has been relatively stable compared to iOS, although it still shows an overall declining trend. Specifically, the game experienced an upward trend during the first four days after launch. From July 6th to July 16th, the download numbers fluctuated, and after July 16th, they began to show an overall downward trend.
For a new game from a well-known developer, this situation is relatively common in the gaming industry, especially in the mobile gaming market, due to factors such as pre-launch marketing, fan base, and first-day effects.
However, when considering the subsequent ratings and public reception, it's clear that "Zenless Zone Zero" does not have as positive a development trajectory compared to other HoYoversegames.
Ratings
Ratinng Distribution
As of August 1st, the reviews and ratings for "Zenless Zone Zero" on both the App Store and Google Play show a significant polarization. There is a notably higher number of 5-star and 1-star ratings.
On Google Play, in some countries like Canada and
Jordan, the number of 1-star ratings is almost equal to the number of 5-star ratings. In Jordan, for instance, 50.01% of the game's ratings are 5 stars, while 45% are 1 star.
Rating Trends in Key Markets
For "Zenless Zone Zero," the ratings trend in its main markets—China, the USA, and Japan—has been consistently declining. Taking the App Store as an example, as of August 1st:
In China, the game's rating has decreased significantly since its release. It started at 4.74 and dropped to 3.65 in less than a month, a decline of 1.09 points. This sharp decrease could be indicative of significant dissatisfaction among players, possibly due to expectations not being met, issues with game mechanics, or other factors affecting user experience.
👉 For more detailed ratings, reviews, and specific chart data for the game in China, click
here.
In the U.S., as of now, the rating has dropped from 4.49 to 3.72, a total decrease of 0.76.
👉 Click
here to directly check the game's ratings, reviews, and specific chart data in the U.S.
As of now, the game's rating in the Japanese market has also dropped by 0.51.
👉 Click
here to directly check the game's ratings, reviews, and specific chart data in the U.S.
Not only is the increasingly negative trend in user feedback visible in the ratings and reviews on the App Store and Google Play, but it is also reflected in well-known gaming media.
Gamespot gave "Zenless Zone Zero" a score of 7, just passing, and commented that the grid-based puzzles are very dull, while the regular combat is overly simple and monotonous.
In China's well-known gaming community TapTap, as of July 21, over 90,000 people have reviewed "Zenless Zone Zero," but the game has a rating of 6.3. In comparison, HoYoverse's flagship titles "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail" have ratings of 8.0 and 7.5, respectively.
This indicates that the reputation of this game is indeed relatively poor compared to previous HoYoversereleases.
𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄
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Why the Game's Performance Trend is Declining
FoxData utilized Rating & Reviews and Review Sentiment Analysis to pinpoint specific player comments and conducted a comprehensive data analysis combined with game investigations.
We summarized the reasons for the game's polarized reviews and the high proportion of negative feedback.
Game Quality
Monotonous Combat System
As an action game, "Zenless Zone Zero" lacks depth and challenge in its combat system. Many aspects seem designed to accommodate beginners.
For instance, the absence of a "jump" feature, which is a crucial element in action games, reduces the sense of control for players, making the game feel overly simplistic to action game enthusiasts.
Compromised Game Design
To cater to multi-platform players (mobile, console, PC), the game suffers in areas like UI adaptation and control logic. Mobile and keyboard/mouse players experience inconsistent gameplay.
Additionally, to accommodate mobile performance, the game frequently requires loading in various scenes, which disrupts the flow in an action game and frustrates players.
Lack of Focused Gameplay
Despite having excellent action design and artistic skills, "Zenless Zone Zero" includes a lot of urban exploration and grid-based puzzle tasks.
These puzzles, especially when placed during combat sequences, disrupt the action and create a disjointed experience, leading to player dissatisfaction.
Industrialized Marketing Strategy
"Zenless Zone Zero" follows HoYoverse's typical marketing approach—high-quality, extensive promotion, and global release, focusing on character-driven content to quickly gain recognition.
Major regions like Japan, South Korea, and China received significant marketing efforts, including extensive offline ads in Japan (e.g., Akihabara). This strategy, similar to previous HoYoverseproducts, likely targeted the same player base.
Although the game leveraged HoYoverse's established global brand and marketing prowess to capture player attention, it heavily relied on the existing user base built by previous titles.
Players are becoming increasingly disenchanted with HoYoverse's industrialized content output, which feels homogenized. Without successfully expanding its audience, familiar players of HoYoverse's style naturally feel disappointed with "Zenless Zone Zero" for not offering significant gameplay innovations compared to previous titles, affecting subsequent ratings and reputation.
"Zenless Zone Zero" is still a decent game by general standards, but compared to other HoYoversereleases, it does not qualify as a successful or even satisfactory game.
If HoYoversecannot find ways to expand its audience or deliver more groundbreaking content, future games may suffer from internal competition and diminishing returns.
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