HoYoverse, the developer behind Genshin Impact and formerly known as miHoYo, is teasing a bigger reveal for its new game Zenless Zone Zero. The new details originate with the opening of a countdown site, which points to May 13 as the big day.
The Zenless Zone Zero site is accessible now and includes two videos, one a little more static than the other, teasing a “breaking news” event. The audio from the first teaser cuts in and out with a man talking about “doomsday, disaster, curses, and lies” and goes on to say, “in short, we’re being reborn, and you’re involved.” There’s no context to help things make sense just yet, but the voice’s vague ramblings also say they “need you to undertake difficult commissions” regardless of the danger these tasks bring.
The second video offers a clear image, unlike the static of the first. “A sub-Hollow has suddenly appeared on the Janice quarters August Streets some 30 minutes ago,” says a woman in the second teaser. “Public security has established a level two control zone and is currently evacuating residents.”
Outside of the two knobs on the TV for the clips, it doesn’t look like there’s much else to interact with. The countdown site has a calendar marking May 13, 2022, as something special, and a poster in the upper right that looks a bit like a Neon Genesis Evangelion reference. Seems fitting given the story and themes in HoYoverse’s action RPG, Honkai Impact 3rd, which also hosted its own Evangelion crossover event last year.
In November 2021, the developer announced its expansion into North America with a new studio in Montreal and job postings for a “brand-new AAA open-world action-adventure game featuring shooting-based gameplay within a living, breathing paranormal world.” That game used “Project X” as a moniker, and industry analyst Daniel Ahmad tweeted this was the shooter HoYoverse referenced.
HoYoverse maintains three service games for now with Tears of Themis, the aforementioned Honkai Impact 3rd, and Genshin Impact, with another on the way in Honkai: Star Rail. While the company hasn’t officially connected the dots between Project X and Zenless Zone Zero, all signs point to the addition of an open-world anime shooter set in a paranormal world on the horizon.
