You're scrolling through the Xbox Store, searching for that high-octane, stylish urban fantasy game you saw all over Twitch. You type it in. Nothing. You try again, thinking maybe you misspelled it. Still nothing. The reality is a bit of a gut punch for Microsoft fans: is Zenless Zone Zero on Xbox? No. Not right now, and honestly, maybe not for a while. It’s a frustrating spot to be in, especially when your friends on PS5 or PC are already deep into the hollows of New Eridu, pulling for Ellen Joe or Zhu Yuan while you're stuck looking at the "coming soon" section of your dashboard that never seems to update.
The situation with HoYoverse—the massive studio behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail—and Xbox has always been, well, complicated. It’s like that one high school drama where two people clearly should be hanging out, but for some reason, they just don't talk. If you’re an Xbox Series X|S owner, you’ve probably felt this sting before.
📖 Related: Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony Is Still the Peak of Rockstar’s Satire
The Sony "Wall" and Why New Eridu is Currently Off-Limits
HoYoverse didn't just wake up one day and decide to ignore millions of Xbox players. These things are almost always about business contracts and technical pipelines. Sony has been incredibly aggressive in securing "console launch exclusivity" for Chinese-developed titles. We saw it with Genshin Impact, which became a cornerstone of the PlayStation 5's free-to-play library. We saw it again with Honkai: Star Rail.
Now, Zenless Zone Zero is following that exact same blueprint.
Sony provides marketing muscle. They put these games front and center in State of Play broadcasts. In exchange, HoYoverse keeps the game off the "green" team for a set period. While nobody has leaked the actual contract for ZZZ, looking at past HoYoverse patterns suggests a window of at least a year, if not longer, before the exclusivity expires. It’s a strategy that has worked wonders for PlayStation’s ecosystem in Asia and abroad.
But there's a glimmer of hope. Look at Genshin Impact. For years, the idea of Genshin on Xbox was a running joke in the community. Then, seemingly out of nowhere at Gamescom 2024, it was announced. It took four years, but it happened. This proves that the door isn't locked forever; it’s just stuck behind a very long timer.
💡 You might also like: Big Ambitions How to Clean Store: Keeping Your Business Profitable Without the Grime
Technical Hurdles and the "Series S" Factor
Let's talk about the hardware. Some people love to blame the Xbox Series S for these delays. Is it fair? Kinda. Developing for the Series S requires optimization that isn't always a priority for a studio already juggling mobile, PC, and PS5 versions. Zenless Zone Zero is a flashy game. It’s got fast combat, heavy particle effects, and those incredibly smooth, almost Pixar-like animations.
Getting that to run at a rock-solid 60 FPS on the Series S takes work.
HoYoverse is a massive company, but even they have finite resources. If they have a deal with Sony that covers their console bases, the incentive to rush an Xbox port—especially one that requires extra optimization for the lower-end Series S—just isn't there. They'd rather focus on the next big content patch, like version 1.2 or 1.3, which keeps the current players spending money.
What about Game Pass?
If is Zenless Zone Zero on Xbox ever becomes a "yes," the next question is obviously about Game Pass. Ironically, for a free-to-play game, Game Pass "Perks" are where the value lies. When Genshin finally hit Xbox, they bundled it with in-game rewards for subscribers. Expect the same for ZZZ. If it eventually migrates, Microsoft will likely pay for a "Starter Pack" to be included with Game Pass Ultimate to make up for the lost time.
Where Can You Play It Instead?
If you absolutely can't wait—and I don't blame you, the combat is genuinely some of the best HoYoverse has ever produced—you have options that don't involve buying a PS5.
- PC: Even a modest gaming laptop can run ZZZ surprisingly well. The game is highly scalable.
- Mobile: It’s a beast on modern iPhones and high-end Android devices. Just be prepared for your phone to turn into a literal hand-warmer after thirty minutes of play.
- Cloud Gaming: This is the sneaky one. While ZZZ isn't on Xbox Cloud Gaming (since it's not on the platform), you can technically use the Xbox's built-in Microsoft Edge browser to access services like GeForce NOW. If you own the game on the Epic Games Store or via HoYoverse's launcher, you can sometimes stream it directly to your console through the web. It’s a bit janky, and the input lag might ruin your perfect dodges, but it's a workaround.
Honestly, the "browser trick" is a last resort. It's not the "native" experience you want when you've got a powerful Series X sitting there.
The Timeline: When Will the Silence End?
If we look at the timeline of Genshin Impact, the gap was huge. But the industry is changing. Microsoft is much more active in the Chinese market now than they were in 2020. They realized they missed the boat on the "Genshin-clone" craze and are playing catch-up.
I'd put my money on a late 2025 or early 2026 announcement. Why? Because by then, the initial hype on PS5 will have plateaued, and HoYoverse will be looking for a fresh injection of players to boost their quarterly numbers. That’s exactly when an Xbox port becomes attractive to them.
It’s all a numbers game.
Right now, they have enough players. They have the whales on PC and mobile. They have the console crowd on PlayStation. Xbox is the "expansion" territory they save for a rainy day. It's frustrating, I know. You want to play the cool new thing when everyone else is talking about it, not three years later when the meta has already been solved and there are 50 characters you've missed out on.
What You Should Do Right Now
Stop refreshing the Xbox Store. It won't help. Instead, if you're serious about jumping into New Eridu, here's the move:
Start an account on PC or Mobile. HoYoverse uses a "HoYoVerse Account" system that supports full cross-save. This is the most important piece of advice I can give you. If you start playing on your phone today, and the game eventually launches on Xbox in 2026, you can just log in on your console and all your characters, gear, and progress will be right there waiting for you.
You aren't "losing" anything by starting on another platform. You're just building your roster early.
In the meantime, keep an eye on major events like The Game Awards or the Tokyo Game Show. These are the windows where these kinds of "coming to other platforms" announcements usually happen. Until then, stick to the mobile version or fire up that old PC. The world of Zenless Zone Zero is worth the hassle, even if Microsoft and HoYoverse are taking their sweet time getting the paperwork signed.
Don't wait for a "yes" that might be a year away. If you want to pull for those S-Rank agents, get an account started on a mobile device or PC now so you're ready for the eventual Xbox debut with a powerhouse team. Use the cross-progression feature to your advantage; it is the only way to beat the exclusivity game. Check your phone's storage—you'll need about 20GB to start—and dive in. By the time it hits the Xbox dashboard, you'll be a veteran proxy.