Zenless Zone Zero made a huge splash of color in The Game Awards in 2023, so it’s pretty surprising to see your character now surrounded by a totally dark and gloomy background.
I bet you’re here because you’re trying to play Zenless Zone Zero on your mobile. Even though the cutscenes look great, and the characters and enemies show up fine, it seems your device forgot one important thing: the background. You probably don’t remember New Eridu looking so dull in the trailers. So, where did all the colors go? In this guide, I’ll explain why you’re seeing a black environment bug in ZZZ and how you can fix it.
How to fix black environment bug in Zenless Zone Zero
To fix the black background error in Zenless Zone Zero, make sure you have fully updated the app or software in the App Store and consult the list of compatible devices. the
This is a compatibility issue. Zenless Zone Zero seems to be incompatible with a wide range of mobile devices. When the game originally launched, the App Store and Play Store made ZZZ available to all devices independently of their specs. That means you might have been able to download it and open it without issue.
If your device is incompatible, the App Store/Play Store will display a red warning: “The app is no longer compatible with your device. Contact the developers for more info.”
HoyoVerse’s customer service said if you’re seeing a “black environment” or “black background,” it likely means your device isn’t compatible with Zenless Zone Zero‘s specs. In all fairness, it’s not an easy game to run at all. For a comprehensive list of the specs required to run Zenless Zone Zero, consult HoyoVerse’s official publication of Pre-Download requirements.
A similar issue cropped up when Honkai: Star Rail launched in 2023. Many players faced black, unintelligible backgrounds, making the game unplayable. This was eventually fixed with the Compatibility Mode introduced in a later patch. HoyoVerse will likely take a similar approach with Zenless Zone Zero.
If your device is incompatible, your best bet to fix the black environment issue is to try a different device (or platform) or wait for HoyoVerse to release a Compatibility Mode patch.
