Developer Note: 2026 Roadmap Showcase (Dec 20, 2025)

Zero Out All Despair! 
Hello. This is theChaos Zero Nightmare Team. 

Since launch, we have already been racing toward the finale of Galactic Disaster Season 1.
Despite the many areas that still require improvement, we would like to sincerely thank all Protos for the continued interest and support you have shown Chaos Zero Nightmare.

In this developer note, we would like to share a consolidated overview of the upcoming new content and improvements previously introduced through the Roadmap Showcase video.

While every aspect of development is important, our primary focus is improving the gameplay experience of the roguelike mode.
Though we are also working on a wide range of feature additions and improvements to enhance the inherent fun of the roguelike experience,
we have identified that high-intensity, Save Data farming-driven play significantly increases player fatigue and undermines the core enjoyment and spirit of the roguelike genre.

Accordingly, through this roadmap we aim to introduce:

1. Reduced Save Data farming difficulty through Zero System improvements;
2. Aroguelike experience that pushes beyond existing limits via Chaos Assault; and
3. Memory Manipulation items that allow Save Data editing in roguelike modes where Save Data is not earned.

Our core development goal is to restructure the play experience so that, through repeated engagement with end content independent of Save Data, players can naturally reach the practical limits of the decks they envision.

Building on a more refined roguelike experience, we are introducing and improving various systems to enhance character appeal, adding diverse content to support richer seasonal enjoyment, and expanding end content beyond pure attack-focused designs. Based on feedback from Protos, we will continue to address and refine Chaos Zero Nightmare's current weaknesses and shortcomings.

Ultimately, the entire development team will give its utmost effort until Chaos Zero Nightmare can deliver an irreplaceable game experience and a truly polished game design to all Protos.

<Season 2 Update>

[World Expansion and Codex Improvements]

Within the Codex, a Unique Option called the Divine Intervention event will occur at a certain probability. By encountering the gods and clearing these events, the Zero Archive will be unlocked. Through the Zero Archive, you will be able to learn more about worldbuilding elements related to the gods. Each god may also grant access to a special "Fate" with powerful effects.

[Archive Standardization]

The Agent Collection will be improved, and a new Archive will be added where you can view monsters and equipment by planet in one place. In addition, a new Lore Collection covering terminology, characters, and events will be introduced.

[Psychological Counseling Improvements]

To more clearly convey Combatants' trauma, new presentation elements and Breakdown-related choices will be added. Poor counseling decisions may instead aggravate a Combatant's trauma, pushing them into deeper Breakdown. In such cases, counseling with Protos will be suspended, medical staff will intervene, and Affinity with that Combatant will not increase.

[Interaction Feature Improvements]

Touch reactions will be added for Combatants in the lobby, café, and restaurants. In future updates, additional interactions are planned, such as dining together at the Starshine Diner or receiving unstable DMs depending on the Combatant's mental state.

[Galactic Martial Arts Tournament Event]

New content will be added where Monster Cards obtained by defeating powerful enemies can be incorporated into your Save Data and used in combat.

[New Monster]

Appearing for the first time in Chaos Zero Nightmare, a massive new monster featuring destructible parts will be introduced.

[Season Board, Medals]

A Season Board feature will be added, allowing you to track seasonal challenges and progression. Special medals obtained through the Season Board can only be earned by completing challenges during the corresponding season.

[Spiral Tower of Screams]

The Spiral Tower of Screams is a regular content where you conquer a tower by freely combining decks. There is no turn limit, and you simply progress by clearing each floor in order. The tower features up to 150 floors and offers rewards such as token stickers and growth currency.

[Growth Difficulty Care – Protos Sync System & Growth Adjustment System]

The Protos Sync System will be introduced to temporarily scale a selected Combatant's level, potential, and Memory Fragments to a set threshold. This allows untrained Combatants to be deployed into Chaos right away, making it easier to test various deck compositions and deck-building strategies.

Prior to the Protos Sync System, a new mode will be added to Galactic Disaster – Chaos that allows any Combatant to be deployed immediately during the season, with their level and stats scaled to an appropriate growth stage even without Potential or Memory Fragments.

Save Data can still be obtained as usual, allowing you to freely and comfortably experiment with deck-building or prepare decks in advance within Season Chaos.

[Save Data Presets]

A preset feature will be added, enabling multiple deck presets per Combatant to be switched as needed.

[Borrow Save Data]

You will be able to borrow friends' Save Data to play. Each friend's Save Data can be borrowed once per day and can only be used in Simulation dungeons.

[Guild Office]

Weekly mission requests can be accepted through the Guild Office. Completing objectives like boss subjugations or Chaos purification rewards players with large quantities of Crystals of Discord and growth currency.

[Zero System Upgrade Rework]

The Zero System Upgrade will be completely reworked. Stage 1: Accessibility Permission increases basic steps and Epiphany activation rates. Stage 2: Authority Expansion introduces effects such as encounters with Divine Representatives that influence stages and increased chances for rare Unidentified Areas to appear. Stage 3: Administrator Mode provides powerful effects, including additional Divine Representative choices and increased Divine Epiphany activation rates. Long-requested features such as "reapplying Epiphany to cards that already have it," or "selectively duplicating cards," will be introduced as upgrade effects. Additionally, during each season, a season-defining skill tree called "Environmental Variables" will be added.

[Unique Codex Addition]

A new Unique Codex will be introduced, offering a completely different experience from standard Chaos gameplay through fixed level design and special objectives.

[Season 2 Update Balance Adjustments]

Season 2 Balance Adjustment Direction

Chaos Zero Nightmare strives for engaging combat design where diverse Combatants fulfill unique roles in their respective positions, and multiple strategic choices can coexist.

However, when certain characters, builds, or synergies become overly dominant and solidify into a single optimal strategy, other options lose relative value, ultimately limiting the diversity of the gameplay experience.

From the perspective of long-term player experience and sustainable live service, we believe such situations require thoughtful balance adjustments.

The development team continuously collects and analyzes data such as Epiphany and card selection rates, meta share, and effective power values across combinations and synergies. Based on this data, we carefully determine both the targets and direction of balance changes.

The core objective of our balance adjustments is to expand meta and gameplay diversity by strengthening characters and builds that have seen relatively low usage. Through this approach, we aim to provide Protos with new strategic options and create an environment where previously overlooked characters and builds can be meaningfully re-explored.

Season 2 Major Balance Adjustments

At the start of each new season, Chaos Zero Nightmare will continue to receive balance adjustments.
In the upcoming Season 2 update, the following major adjustments will be applied.

First, Common Cards with low adoption rates will be improved.
These changes will include not only stat increases, but also structural adjustments.

Second, Heal mechanics for Controller Combatants will receive buffs.
Combatants affected by these adjustments include Nia, Rei, Orlea, and Cassius.

Third, underutilized builds, Unique Cards, and Epiphanies, including those related to Yuki, will receive buffs.

Fourth, some Partner passive effects will be improved.

Lastly, from a long-term perspective, balance changes will be applied only in cases where certain mechanics exert enough influence to compromise the game's overall design.

Combatants subject to these specific adjustments are Cassius and Tressa.

Currently, the synergy between these two characters generates an excessive amount of cards beyond what was originally intended, resulting in a level of power that heavily disrupts game balance. This has also led to unusually long battles—often three to four times longer than normal—which has increased overall player fatigue.

The development team believes that this situation undermines the integrity of the game’s overall design and overwhelms other strategic options, ultimately diminishing the diversity of gameplay experiences available to our Protos. For these reasons, we have decided that adjustments are necessary.

As the goal is not to weaken the Combatants themselves, adjustments will instead focus on addressing mechanics that threaten the overall game design, thereby preserving the long-term value of the player experience. While unintended functionalities will be fixed, our top priority is to preserve each character’s intended role and relative value as much as possible.

Even after these changes, Tressa will continue to shine as one of the game’s strongest damage dealers. Cassius will also receive additional buffs alongside the adjustments, ensuring he remains an appealing and competitive option moving forward.

While these changes aim to maintain each character’s relative role and position, we understand that some players may still perceive an overall decrease in power. For this reason, Protos will be able to request a character recall at their discretion.
When using a character recall, all resources invested in that character will be fully refunded, and additional items that allow limited Save Data adjustments will also be granted.

In addition, based on our experience from Season 1, we plan to significantly reduce player fatigue in the Great Rift content while enhancing its strategic depth and enjoyment. Our goal is to make this content more accessible and enjoyable for a wider range of Protos.

<Other Improvements in the Season 2 Update>

[Decorating Captain ID Card]

You will be able to decorate your ID Card using stickers, special lobby illustrations, and secondary illustrations.

[Memory Fragment Management]

The UI layout for managing Memory Fragments will be improved for greater clarity. Preferred main and sub options for each Combatant will be highlighted, making Memory Fragment management more intuitive. Instant upgrades will be available through a separate pop-up, and upgraded options will be clearly displayed.

[Other QoL Improvements]

Story skipping feature will be added. Simulation repeat counts will be removed, and a reward multiplier feature will be introduced. When using multipliers, entry Aether consumption will increase, rewards will scale accordingly, and only 1 wave will need to be cleared. A speed-up button will also be added to skip Unidentified Area animations within Chaos.

<Season 3 Update>

[Chaos Assault]

One of the core appeals of the roguelike genre lies in navigating constant threats and choices while striving for optimal strategies and simply surviving the run. Chaos Assault is new content designed to further embrace this roguelike experience.

Chaos Assault is intended for Protos who wish to experience Chaos Zero Nightmare more deeply as a roguelike. Unlike the existing Chaos, which begins relatively safely in outer regions, this mode starts immediately in far more dangerous and lethal areas.

With interventions from various gods, the core gameplay flow becomes more intense and threatening, while new deck-building elements are added to overcome these challenges. 

We are also developing this as a high-difficulty mode featuring stronger and more varied monsters, along with new penalties.

Additionally, by disabling certain existing systems such as the Discard pile system, Chaos Assault will be introduced as a constraint-free roguelike challenge mode that allows for more liberated play beyond traditional balancing mechanisms.

[Purification Protocol]

Purification Protocol is a content where Combatants must be deployed across multiple areas to defeat the malware codes to restore a hacked system.
Unlike standard combat, Stress levels do not reset between stages, requiring careful Combatant deployment.

To counter these challenges, a system called Code Breaker will be available.

Code Breakers are support effects that can be selected upon entering a stage.
These support effects can be requested once a specific gauge is fully charged, with the gauge filling each time certain conditions are met.

To survive critical moments, it is essential to choose Code Breakers that synergize with your setup and actively use their support effects at the right time.

[Challenge Mission per Combatant]

New challenge missions tied to each Combatant's unique mechanics will be added. Completing these challenges rewards special stickers for that Combatant.

[Growth Guide]

A Growth Guide system will be introduced, providing information on required currency, recommended Memory Fragments, and Partners for each Combatant. Recommended base setups, potential thresholds, and priority rankings will also be presented.

[Corruption]

To confront the escalating threat of Chaos, Combatants will gain access to a new power. "Corruption" is a new growth system designed to enable Combatants to challenge stronger Chaos threats.

Beyond simple stat progression, Corruption introduces new effects and skill changes that allow existing Combatants to shine in new ways and enable fresh build possibilities. Corrupted Combatants will also receive unique Breakdown visuals, dialogue, and designs, revealing an entirely new side of each character. 

This system will be rolled out sequentially per Combatant and is currently targeted for its first release in Season 3. We look forward to seeing Combatants who have struggled in the meta, or those solidified into standardized builds, demonstrate renewed strength through Corruption.

[PC Key Mapping Improvements]

Key mapping will be added to PC Client settings, and the functionality of certain keys will be improved to provide a more comfortable PC gameplay experience.

<Other Planned Improvements>

[Trauma Code Full Voiceover]

To enhance immersion, full voiceover support for Trauma Code stories will be added gradually.

[Scenario Improvements]

While preserving the existing world and background, we are continuing work to improve narrative progression in ways we believe Protos will find satisfying.

Although not covered in the Roadmap Showcase, we would also like to briefly introduce upcoming scoring rule adjustments for the Great Rift.

The Great Rift in Chaos Zero Nightmare is designed to provide diverse strategic approaches for each boss within a score-based competitive structure.
Future updates will introduce additional scoring modifiers that reward not only raw damage, but also how effectively each boss's unique weaknesses and core mechanics are exploited.
The first and second-half structure introduced in Season 1 may also change in future seasons depending on boss and combat design.
Through these adjustments, we aim to evolve the Great Rift into content that offers new strategic depth each season. 

We have shared an overview of the content currently in development, including Galactic Disaster Seasons 2 and 3. In addition to what was introduced today, many other improvements are still in preparation, and we will continue to share more details as they become available. 

We will continue to listen closely to your feedback and communicate openly, doing our utmost to build Chaos Zero Nightmare together with all of you.

Thank you.