June 6, 2025 is a big day for HoYoVerse and Zenless Zone Zero, what with the title making its Xbox debut, version 2.0 debuting, and a number of major storyline additions and quality of life adjustments arriving all at once. We’ve already seen the company make major adjustments, such as TV Mode adjustments and adding two more Ether Agents. To go over what went into this latest leap to a new version and platform, Siliconera spoke with Zenless Zone Zero Producer Zhenyu Li about the development process, characters, and its influences.
Jenni Lada: Did any real-world cities shape the new Waifei Peninsula region in Zenless Zone Zero 2.0?
Zhenyu Li: When designing Waifei Peninsula, I drew a lot of inspiration from my home region, Guangdong, and its local culture. In Failume Heights, you’ll find many establishments commonly seen in Cantonese communities, such as Yum Cha Sin, pawnshops, and traditional restaurants. These give the entire city a more authentic, lived-in atmosphere. Additionally, many of our team members grew up watching Hong Kong films, so we infused Waifei Peninsula with a cultural fusion reminiscent of Hong Kong cinema. We hope this approach allows Zenless Zone Zero Season 2’s unique artistic design and cultural flair to be appreciated by players worldwide.
There are quite a few Factions in Zenless Zone Zero that don’t have a full three members for a complete squad yet. For example, Obol Squad, Stars of Lyra, and most recently Mockingbird. How do you come up with timelines internally for adding members? Will we end up seeing Factions that don’t ever end up with more than one or two members in them?
Zhenyu Li: We don’t have any specific restrictions on the number of members in each faction, so there are no predetermined upper or lower limits for faction sizes. Future changes in faction numbers and whether new members will join will all depend on the needs of our narrative pacing and content.
When coming up with Thiren designs, how do you determine which types of animals and combinations can and can’t happen?
Zhenyu Li: We want Zenless Zone Zero to be a game without limitations. When creating Thiren characters, we don’t set predetermined standards for what “can” or “cannot” be done. Instead, we focus on whether the character design fits the plot and background needs, whether their image can leave a lasting impression on players, in short, whether they’re fun. As long as we strike a balance between aesthetics and plausibility, any kind of Thiren could potentially appear in the game.
26 of the confirmed playable characters in Zenless Zone Zero are women. Any chance we’ll start seeing more guys, especially ones who are five-stars?
Zhenyu Li: There will definitely be more male Agents in the future, including S-Rank ones. While we can’t reveal who they all are just yet, we’ll continue to introduce different characters as new versions of the game are released and the story unfolds.
The Defense role character pool in Zenless Zone Zero is rather low right now, with Caesar as the only S-rank Agent. Is there any particular reason for this and will we see more Defense units in the future?
Zhenyu Li: Defense characters generally have unique roles in team composition and combat. For example, Caesar provides shields for the team while also boosting the squad’s overall damage. Because of this, we’re careful when designing Defense Agents to ensure each one offers a distinct experience, rather than duplicating mechanics or playstyles. As gameplay expands further in Season 2, we’ll introduce more Defense characters with unique mechanics, guided by both our design principles and player feedback.
Zenless Zone Zero is filled with a lot of fashionable characters. What sorts of inspirations do you look to when designing costumes?
Zhenyu Li: We want every character in Zenless Zone Zero to be vibrant, three-dimensional, and unique. Before designing each character’s appearance, we first consider their personality traits, using their background to guide the visual design direction. This ensures that every character’s appearance reflects their compelling inner qualities and leaves a strong impression on players from the moment they appear.
For costume design, we generally follow two main principles: First, each character’s outfit must be inspired by modern clothing, tailored to fit both their image and background while aligning with Zenless Zone Zero‘s urban setting and overall artistic style. Second, each character’s attire must reflect their faction’s background, with the costume design enhancing character recognition.
There’s been a lot of fine-tuning in Zenless Zone Zero since launch in terms of how missions proceed and combat, and it’s clear the influence Honkai Impact 3rd had on it in some ways. What are some of the most notable changes in 2.0 based on feedback both before and after the 1.4 update?
Zhenyu Li: In version 2.0, we aim to bring players a completely fresh experience. From a narrative perspective, we’ve reimagined Waycraft to better align with Zenless Zone Zero‘s urban fantasy setting while incorporating modern social values. We remain committed to our “people-first” approach to storytelling, focusing on the perspectives and actions of ordinary individuals rather than heroes. In terms of gameplay, version 2.0 expands on core mechanics and deepens the experience of existing content. In Lemnian Hollow, we’ve enhanced the sandbox-style combat stages, integrating Zenless Zone Zero‘s unique gameplay features. Players can look forward to 3D combat stages that offer greater freedom, broader exploration opportunities, and smoother, more dynamic combat experiences.
To support this expanded gameplay, version 2.0 also emphasizes infrastructure upgrades and innovation. First, alongside the combat stage improvements, we’ve enhanced basic systems and features, like UI and new 3D navigation maps, to ensure convenience and seamlessness for players. Second, we’ve deepened the links between existing game content: for example, the new temple management gameplay connects interactive experiences across various shops in Failume Heights, allowing players to immerse themselves more fully in New Eridu’s self-contained city life and explore it through a clearly structured gameplay loop.
What kind of “this shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does for me” type of team of characters do you like to put together in Zenless Zone Zero when not trying to prioritize Factions and Elements?
Zhenyu Li: If I didn’t have to worry about power level, faction, or stats, I’d probably just follow my curiosity and try out some interesting combinations—like a team of all characters over 160cm tall, an all-Thiren team, or even an all-support team.
With games like Genshin Impact, we almost sort of have an idea of how long the main campaign might last due to regions tied to it. Do you internally have any sort of timeline on how long you expect the main Zenless Zone Zero story might run or how many arcs it might include?
Zhenyu Li: Zenless Zone Zero is a unique game that reflects our development team’s own narrative approach and methodology. Rather than relying on area-based progression, Zenless Zone Zero leans toward a story-driven narrative, with each area naturally complementing the unfolding plot as narrative elements are presented to players. Our goal is for Zenless Zone Zero‘s storytelling to consistently surprise players, steering clear of predictable paths set by established settings. In fact, the main story only offers one possible thread—each player’s understanding, experience, and emotional connection to the game is truly their own. We don’t want to predetermine the story’s direction; instead, we want players to freely imagine and explore Zenless Zone Zero‘s world, ensuring that their journey is always filled with unexpected moments.
Zenless Zone Zero is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and 2.0 is available now.