My Gacha Hub: The World's #1 Source for Gacha News, Releases and Updates

Neo Artifacts is Launching Globally on May 7, 2026

Flaccid Stix — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:03:29 +0000

Neo Artifacts is an upcoming turn-based tactical SRPG Gacha game launching Globally on May 7, 2026.

The game features:

Stunning hand-drawn character art and designs

Individual character stories and deeper “cultivation” for lore and synergy

A mix of strategy, collection, and light narrative

Battles are grid-based, turn-based tactical combat (manual play is actually required for more difficult content)

Localization needed some work

No native PC client – so you have to use emulators or play on mobile I’m excited to play this next month! I’ve been looking forward to this since last year!

If you enjoy tactical SRPGs with beautiful anime-style character designs and a fresh “living artifacts” theme, it’s worth trying. It’s a solid mid-tier gacha launch in terms of reception: great art and tactics, but some localization/PvP issues.

PRE-REGISTER NOW!

The Best Free to Play MMORPGs RIGHT NOW in 2026 | F2P MMOs | Anime MMOs

Flaccid Stix — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:54:14 +0000

MMORPGs are some of the most engaging, challenging forms of large-scale multiplayer content you’ll find online, and players – both new and old are always looking for a great place to start, or stay.
Having played literally every single MMO on the market, I wanted to take the time to give my thoughts on the best free to play MMOs on the market. This specifically means games like Final Fantasy XIV, Black Desert Online, The Elder Scrolls Online and World of Warcraft will be excluded, due to their recurring paid or outright purchase requirements.
Now let’s jump in.

Albion Online

Albion Online is a full-loot sandbox MMORPG focused on a player-driven economy, PvP, crafting, and territory control. Everything is free-to-play, with premium status aiding in speeding up progression. It can be incredibly hardcore – and is definitely not for players that want an easy, casual MMO.
It launched exclusively on PC for a while, but later expanded on to Mobile, and is now confirmed to be releasing on to console as well, further expanding the game’s reach.

Dungeons & Dragons Online

Dungeons & Dragons Online is the purest tabletop D&D experience in MMO form. The game is VERY old. We’re talking 20 years – older than perhaps some of you. It captures the feel of pen-and-paper adventures with tactical, instanced dungeon crawling, trap-disarming, puzzle-solving – it can be a little overwhelming at times.
The combat is engaging and skill-based, requiring an understanding of positioning, crowd control, and individual builds. It also offers deep character customization, but that’s what you’d expect from a D&D game.
It’s not flashy. It doesn’t chase the same hype or instant gratification as more recent titles, but therein lies its charm.

Guild Wars 2

I’m going to go ahead here and include Guild Wars 2 due to the entire base game being free and allowing you access to everything the game has to offer, disregarding expansion content.
Guild Wars 2 is often praised as one of the strongest F2P MMORPGs. It features innovative horizontal progression, dynamic world events that reward players equally and encourage higher level players to come back to lower level areas, excellent combat, mounts, and a mix of PvE/PvP.
It’s an incredibly casual friendly game, with a very active endgame – and a LOT of players playing Barbie dress up.
A Guild Wars 3 game is in the works so I’m not sure what will ultimately happen to Guild Wars 2, but for right now, this is one of the best free to play MMOs you’ll find. Some people won’t consider it free to play due to the nature of its expansions, but many of us do.

Old School RuneScape

Honestly, Albion and RuneScape share more similarities than most, while also both being incredibly unique games that haven’t had other MMOs replicate what makes them so popular.
Old School RuneScape has continued to increase in active players the last couple years. It’s a classic point-and-click MMORPG with deep skill expression, quests, bosses. The core experience is entirely free, with optional memberships unlocking more content.
It launched exclusively on PC as well, and later ported to Mobile, increasing its popularity significantly while not making it a pay to win mess.

Star Trek Online

If you loved ANY Star Trek TV series – The Next Generation, Andromeda, Deep Space Nine, even the OG Star Trek, you’ll love this as it lets you live out your inner wet nerd dream, allowing you to explore iconic planets, battle classic enemies, team up with absolute freakin’ legends, and command fleets of ships.
It offers a different style of character customization in the way of officer abilities and builds, fleet features along with ground-combat. The story is incredibly deep, expanding on the franchises’ already extensive lore.
Trust me, as a Trekkie, you’re gonna love this one.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars The Old Republic is one of the most story-rich MMORPGs currently available, with exceptional class-based narratives, NPC companions, channeling the typical BioWare-style questing system, set in the Star Wars universe. The base game and early expansions are free, with a subscription unlocking more.
This is one of the few MMOs that are both enjoyable solo or with a larger group of players. I played this with my sister when we started this channel, and then played it again years later with my wife, and it was a completely different experience both times due to the complexity of the narrative.

The Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online might look and feel a little dated in 2026, but it delivers one of the most immersive, lore-rich MMORPG experiences available.
You step into Tolkien’s Middle-earth with an epic story that follows and expands the books. The atmosphere, music, and world-building are unmatched, creating a cozy, emotional journey that feels like a single-player RPG in a living world. It’s extremely solo-friendly, which fits todays style of MMO player, and ultimately, respects players and their time.

Where Winds Meet

I’m going to include Where Winds Meet here because many people consider it to be an MMO – or at the very least MMO-adjacent. Me? I like to think it’s the evolution of the MMORPG genre. It features a stunning open-world Wuxia experience. As someone that grew up in Perfect World International, that’s right up my alley.
It features a beautiful, immersive ancient China filled with breathtaking landscapes, secrets, and vertical exploration. Real time action combat that is fluid, stylish, and incorporates full parries, dodges and weapon combos. My wife Mrs Stix has poured over a thousand hours into the game since it launched. Or near enough to.
It’s completely free-to-play with no pay-to-win – progress comes from playing, and developers seem to be committed to keeping it fair with cosmetics being the main driving force behind revenue. The world is massive, solo-friendly yet social when you want, with cross-play across PC, PS5, and mobile.
Some people may argue Where Winds Meet is not an MMO, and that’s totally fine, but many of us agree it’s more of an MMO than a lot of what has released in recent years.

And there you have it. These right here, these are the best free to play MMORPGs right now. Sure, they might not have the combat of Korean MMOs like Black Desert or Blade and Soul. Nor the Anime aesthetic of PSO2 or SoulWorker. Nor the content cadence of MMOs like World of Warcraft.
But bar a few paid exceptions, this is the best the genre has to offer. These are all games with their own unique playerbases, filled with passionate players enjoying their games. And I can personally attest to having had fun in each and every single one of them.

Azur Promilia Confirms Beta Test – “Constant Sequence Test” Beginning April 3, 2026

Flaccid Stix — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 16:36:55 +0000

It was just confirmed that 2 separate Closed Beta tests are going to be held for Azur Promilia, an upcoming open-world fantasy action RPG developed by Manjuu Games (the studio behind Azur Lane), one in China, and one in Korea.

The Constant Sequence Test is the name of the second closed beta test (CBT) and will be limited in scope and scale.

Key platforms include PC, Android, and iOS. This is a Closed beta test, with data-wipes. It officially runs from April 3, 2026 to April 11, 2026. Pre-registrations and applications were open earlier, and if you follow me on social media, or watch my videos, you’d have known to sign up. This is the second major testing phase (following an earlier CBT or offline tests). It’s meant to stress-test servers, gather feedback on gameplay, combat, open-world features, creature companionship mechanics, and more, while refining the game before a wider/global release.

Azur Promilia is a fantasy Anime RPG with creature companionship elements, open-world exploration, action combat, and a unique aesthetic blending sci-fi/fantasy vibes.

Snowbreak Tentatively Returning from Shut Down in “Early April”

Flaccid Stix — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:06:57 +0000

Snowbreak: Containment Zone went offline on March 2, 2026, at 23:59 (UTC+8), when the developers announced server maintenance. Officially, it’s described as “technical maintenance” involving a large volume of data, with no estimated reopening time provided initially, and they’ve promised compensation like free characters, weapons, and items once it ends. But the reality is much different.

The real trigger appears to be a controversy in China over a collaboration with China Post. The collab sparked major backlash, with critics calling the game inappropriate or “erotic”/pornographic due to the cultured, degenerate content featuring in-game Waifu’s. This led to reports/complaints (including mass reporting to authorities), and the collab was subsequently cancelled. A lot of players widely speculate the temporary shut down is due to regulatory pressure or government investigation in China, possibly forcing content rectification, censorship, or even restructuring.

Following their silence over the last several weeks, a light was seen at the end of the tunnel. According to the Snowbreak team in China, (further backed up by the staff team over on Reddit,) Snowbreak is targeting an “Early April” re-opening. No confirmation has been made about any potential changes to the game, however, and that’s what most people are worried for. Will it be censored? What alterations had to be made to get the game back online? Only time will tell! Either way, for better or worse, Snowbros should have their game back within the next couple weeks!

NCSoft Announce Blade & Soul Heroes End of Service After 6 Months

Flaccid Stix — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 14:41:00 +0000

Blade & Soul Heroes (also known as “Hoyeon” or “호연” in Korean, the global version published by NCSOFT/PlayNC) announced on (2026-03-10 21:00:00) that the game would, after 6 months of service, be shutting down.

The game launched globally on September 24, 2025, so it’s shutting down after roughly 9 months of service. The Service ends completely on June 16, 2026, at 20:00 PDT. The game will be playable until 19:59 PDT that day, after which the servers, app downloads, and access will be terminated. The official website will remain online a bit longer, until August 4, 2026, at 20:00 PDT.

Cash shop/product sales ended right after the maintenance on March 10, 2026 (no more real-money purchases possible). A final major update is planned for March 17, 2026, which includes remaining unreleased content like a new Hero named Ryun, with special events to let players wrap up their experience meaningfully.

NCSOFT will offer refunds for paid products purchased in the last three months (from roughly December 10, 2025, onward, as of the announcement date) “to the fullest extent possible.” A separate detailed Compensation Notice (including how/where to apply) will be posted on March 17, 2026.

The Best Gacha Games to Play for New Players in 2025 and 2026

Flaccid Stix — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 18:28:51 +0000

There are a LOT of incredible Gacha games available to players. There are also a LOT of incredible Gacha games coming (Ananta (if you consider the outfit Gacha,) Arknights Endfield, Azur Promilia, Neverness to Everness, Rewinding Cadence, Silver Palace, Unending Dawn.) But we all have a finite amount of time. With that time, you’re forced to limit what you play, and how much you can play.

With this in mind, I wanted to list off the Gacha games that I currently play, and that I believe are most worth playing in 2025, going into 2026. You’re welcome to submit your own as well! The more people that share their games, the more variety we have to discuss and the more games new players will see when reading through the comments!

Arknights

Incredible game with phenomenal story. The best tower defense game in the genre. Great character designs, intricate features, and very challenging.

Brown Dust 2

Biggest gooner game in the genre. Fantastic story, arguably most degen but also stunning character designs. Great turn-based combat.

Chaos Zero Nightmare

A surprising hit from 2025. Good story, good character designs, fun gameplay loop and a team that are constantly listening to player feedback and refining their game.

Guardian Tales

Segmented action game that channels some of the best humor in the genre. Light hearted (but also dark,) fun combat, and the references to other video games and Anime make this a MUST PLAY.

NIKKE

Ridiculously dark and messed up story that’s also super happy and fun. Ridiculously generous studio with phenomenal English voice acting. Solid combat for players that want idle or manual (for more difficult content.)

Path to Nowhere

A darker more realistic version of Arknights (which is more Anime.) Also one of the best tower defense Gacha games out there, with phenomenal character designs and a lot of more complex topics touched on than most other Gacha games.

Punishing Gray Raven

One of the best action Gacha games in the genre, bringing some of the fastest paced, fluid combat you’ll see. Great story, with incredible looking characters.

Reverse 1999

One of the best narrative experiences you’ll find in Gacha, with some of the cutest but also beautiful character designs as well. Fun turn-based combat, stunning themes and backdrops. This game NEEDS TO BE PLAYED if you haven’t.

Wuthering Waves

Also one of the best action Gacha games in the genre, with arguably the best open-world, most detailed 3D character designs, fantastic voice acting, great story (after 1.0) and great soundtrack.

Zenless Zone Zero

One of the 3 best action Gacha games, with a very different, slower, more calculated combat style than the others, a great story, excellent voice acting, and phenomenal gooner character designs (c’mon let’s be real)

Those are the 10 Gacha games that I think are the primest examples of quality and diversity the genre has to offer. There’s something here for everyone. What are YOUR go-to’s though?!

Star Savior is a New Turn-Based Gacha Game Releasing November 20, 2025

Flaccid Stix — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:48:18 +0000

A BRAND NEW GACHA RELEASES TOMORROW! Star Savior. It’s a cute, Anime RPG from the studio that brought us Counter:Side years ago.

✔️You become the “Leader” of the Savior Corps, leading the “Saviors,” girls possessing the power of the stars.
✔️It features turn-based battles with beautiful skill effects (like Honkai Star Rail/Chaos Zero Nightmare)
✔️It has a deep story
✔️Beautiful animated illustrations and 3D graphics
✔️There’s a functional training system in place (maybe similar to Uma Musume? Unconfirmed yet)
✔️Reduced pull currency from 300 > 200 (this is what Stella Sora needed to do, but failed to do,) meaning instead of being 3,000 for a 10 pull, it’s 2,000 for a 10 pull.
✔️100% SSR Molds (like NIKKE – which is crazy)
✔️500 total launch pulls
✔️14 days of dozens of free pulls playing every day
✔️You get the SSR character Triss completely free for meeting the pre-registration milestone
✔️You get the free SSR character Frey free through Mission Rewards
✔️They’re giving away 3 free SSR random character boxes (like Wuthering Waves’ initial rewards)
✔️Global news coming on November 26

This is SUCH A SICK LOOKING NEW GACHA GAME, and I cannot wait to get to play it! Y’all should definitely make sure to check it out when you get the chance! These devs seem to be relatively competent, and are prioritizing rewarding players rather than screwing them.

PRE-REGISTER NOW

A BRAND NEW GACHA RELEASES TOMORROW! Star Savior. It's a cute, Anime RPG from the studio that brought us Counter:Side years ago.

✔️You become the "Leader" of the Savior Corps, leading the "Saviors," girls possessing the power of the stars.
✔️It features turn-based battles with… pic.twitter.com/dvmk7UQZdb
— Stix (@ByteStix) November 19, 2025

Gate of Gates Pre-Registration

Flaccid Stix — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:31:37 +0000

Gate of Gates (G.O.G) is an upcoming mobile tower defense / real-time strategy game from Korean developer LiTRAIL, published by Webzen.

In a post-apocalyptic setting plagued by darkness and “Infinite Gates,” players serve as Guardians, gathering light shards to restore humanity while deploying squads of alluring mechanical Waifu’s in combat gear to fend off monster hordes.

It features deck-building mechanics with hot Waifu’s: Players will build decks from varied characters, position them tactically, activate abilities, and enhance using light shards in wave-defense battles. It has stunning 3D visuals and anime-inspired designs with a lot of similarities to NIKKE, Girls’ Frontline, Arknights, and CounterSide in style and animation.

PRE-REGISTER

Gate of Gates

Flaccid Stix — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:23:06 +0000

Gate of Gates (G.O.G) is an upcoming mobile strategic defense (tower defense / real-time strategy) game developed by Korean studio LiTRAIL and published by Webzen.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by darkness and “Infinite Gates,” players act as a Guardian, collecting faint light shards to rebuild humanity. You command teams of beautiful, mechanical Waifu’s in combat suits to defend against waves of monstrous enemies.

Key Features:

Gameplay: Deck-building with character growth; assemble decks of diverse heroines, place them strategically, use skills, and upgrade via light shards for wave-based defense.

Art & Design: High-quality 3D with anime-style characters, shares a striking resemblence to NIKKE, Girls’ Frontline, Arknights, and CounterSide.

Status: Not released yet—no app store listings. First public reveal at G-STAR 2025 (Nov 13-16, Busan BEXCO, Webzen Booth E09) with playable demo, cosplay events (e.g., characters like Miu, Trine, Astrid), stamp missions, goods, and developer talks.

PRE-REGISTER

Developer

LiTRAIL

Publisher

Webzen

Status

Global – Unconfirmed

China – Unconfirmed

Japan – Confirmed

Korea – Confirmed

Synopsis

Gate of Gates Pre-Registration

Gate of Gates (G.O.G) is an upcoming mobile tower defense / real-time strategy game from Korean developer LiTRAIL, published by Webzen. In a post-apocalyptic setting plagued by darkness and "Infinite Gates," players serve as Guardians, gathering light shards to...

NIKKE’s 3rd Anniversary Rewards Players With DOZENS of Free Pulls

Flaccid Stix — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:44:11 +0000

NIKKE is one of the best Gacha games right now – and what an insane W this was from ShiftUp. NIKKE never misses an opportunity to absolutely dominate the genre, showcasing – repeatedly, how generous they are as a studio, and how much they reward their players for actually playing their game.

✔️Dozens of standard pulls
✔️Dozens of limited pulls
✔️Free SSR unit
✔️Daily free pulls on every limited banner (21 pulls per banner, 3 banners total, 63 total pulls)
✔️Thousands of premium gems
✔️Dozens of free upgrade materials

This is disregarding all of the free pulls and currency you’re given as part of the actual Anniversary.

NIKKE – and further, ShiftUp, continue to set a golden standard of how you operate your game, and how you incentivize players to continue to support your game. It’s one of the reasons this is my main Gacha. Everything I need, I can get, barely spending anything.

NIKKE is one of the best Gacha games right now - and what an insane W this was from ShiftUp.

NIKKE never misses an opportunity to absolutely dominate the genre, showcasing - repeatedly, how generous they are as a studio, and how much they reward their players for actually… https://t.co/xoAYyniw5W
— Stix (@ByteStix) November 11, 2025