Zenless Zone Zero, miHoYo’s New Gacha Game, Is Confusing Players with Its 180 Free Pulls Promise

Zenless Zone Zero, miHoYo’s newest gacha game after the success of Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, launched to mixed success yesterday on its official global release. While many felt attracted to the fast-paced combat gameplay and the characters, most downloaded the game after Zenless Zone Zero promised players 180 free pulls after its live stream program.

Of course Zenless Zone Zero’s 100 free pulls are a scam, they used the same scam language as always, “ᵒᵇᵗᵃⁱⁿ ᵘᵖ ᵗᵒ 100 FREE PULLS” means you can obtain from 0 up to 100 if you play 🔫🔫

If they actually give them, pass the code lmao pic.twitter.com/HHtkTi52e5

— Quetzal Kintori 🐍🪶 VTuber (@QuetzalKintori) July 4, 2024

However, when players downloaded Zenless Zone Zero, they felt confused about where the rewards were as they received little in their mail. Furthermore, after scavenging the main screen, they finally understood that they needed to complete events and level-ups to obtain these “free pulls” in Zenless Zone Zero.

Obviously, this did not bode well with the community, as fans claimed it was a forceful strategy to keep them playing the game. Some even drew comparisons with Wuthering Waves’ initial launch, where they received more pull rewards despite also locking most behind events like Zenless Zone Zero.

How to Obtain the 180 Free Pulls in Zenless Zone Zero?

To obtain the 180 free pulls (100 pulls on Characters/Weapons and 80 Boopons) – the latter used to summon Zenless Zone Zero Bangboo, players must reach a higher Inter-Knot Level, complete events and log in daily. Listed below is how you can redeem the total pulls:

x20 Encrypted Master Tape	Currency for pulling limited-time S-Rank Agents and limited-time W-Engines x10 obtained through New City Visitor’s Passport Event x10 obtained through Sixth Street Giveaway Event Master-tape.png
x70 Master Tape	Currency to pull Agents and W-Engines in the Star-Studded Cast Stable Channel x10 obtained through Cunning Generosity x20 obtained through pre-registration rewards x40 Obtained through Road to Proxy Greatness Boopon-fix.png
x80 Boopon	Currency to pull for Bangboo through the Signal Search x5 obtained through pre-registration rewards x10 obtained through “Eh-Nah” Into Your Lap Event x65 obtained through Road to Proxy Greatness Polychrome.png
x1,600 Polychrome	Premium currency that can be used to purchase 10 additional tapes or other things of your choosing x1,600 obtained through Road to Proxy Greatness

As you can see, Zenless Zone Zero has split the 180 free pulls unevenly, meaning you cannot redeem all of it at once, and you must play through the game, at least reaching Inter-Knot Level 8 to unlock events to earn more. Regardless, you will receive the free pulls in due time, but it is understandable why players get upset as the developers did not unveil the method during the live stream.

Related: Master the Genshin Impact Pity System with 8 Expert Tips

Is Zenless Zone Zero’s Free Pulls a Successful Marketing Deploy?

Judging from the ratings on both global and China, Zenless Zone Zero’s promise of 180 free pulls had backfired tremendously, as the game is sitting at 3.3/5 on Google Play Store and 5.4/10 on Bilibili. As for the reason ZZZ took this approach, one could presume it is likely to discourage gamers from rerolling.

Rerolling is a common theme in gacha games as players would like to start their journey with their preferred character, meaning some would keep deleting their accounts while trying to pull their desired companion. Purchasing and selling reroll accounts is also usual practice in the gacha games community, but miHoYo heavily frowns upon it and will ban third-party accounts if discovered.

However, despite the hiccups in giving players the rewards, players are also quickly dropping the game due to its lenient combat mechanics towards newcomers and the lacklustre opening story arc. For example, the phrase “Zenless Zone Zero is boring” was trending on No.2 at Bilibili, as players argued there was little to convince them to continue their journey in New Eridu.

Zenless Zone Zero Needs Some Time to Progress

Like in our initial Wuthering Waves article, new games need time to progress and improve, and a miHoYo-made gacha game often does not disappoint in its later plots. While it is safe to say the developers of Zenless Zone Zero have much to address in the coming days, rewards and compensation may be far too a stretch as they technically did not lie to their player base.

For more up-to-date gaming articles, follow our Instagram page for timely updates. Lastly, for other miHoYo games enjoyers, do not forget to tune in to Genshin’s 4.8 special program tonight.