• Developer: Naked Rain (NetEase)
• Publisher: NetEase Games
• Combat Type: Real-time action (fluid, web-slinging/PvP elements)
• World Type: Urban open-world RPG
• Betas: Multiple (TGS 2025, technical/offline tests in 2026); more planned
• Release Date: TBA (likely 2027)
• What the Game Is: An urban open-world action RPG set in the vibrant, anime-styled Nova City. Players take on the role of an elite agent with high freedom to explore, swing between buildings like Spider-Man, drive vehicles, engage in PvP, and customize outfits, cars, and homes. The game stands out for its GTA-meets-Persona vibe with no character gacha – all characters are earned through progression, while monetization focuses on cosmetics and vehicles.

• Developer/Publisher: Pawprint Studio
• Combat Type: Action RPG
• World Type: Stylized open-world
• Betas: Multiple betas
• Release Date: TBA
• What the Game Is: A charming stylized open-world action RPG with strong Pokémon-like creature catching and exploration. Players explore a vibrant, interactive world, collect and train a variety of creatures, and engage in action combat in a whimsical, visually appealing setting.

• Developer/Publisher: Dynamis One
• Combat Type: Action/strategy
• World Type: Open-world elements
• Betas: Planned
• Release Date: TBA (2027 at the earliest)
• What the Game Is: A strategic action game with strong narrative and oratorio-style storytelling elements. It blends combat with deeper world-building.

• Developer/Publisher: Manjuu
• Combat Type: Action RPG
• World Type: Open-world fantasy
• Betas: Multiple CBTs (recent CN/KR/JP tests; more planned, public beta possible end of 2026)
• Release Date: TBA (2026-2027 expected)
• What the Game Is: A colorful open-world fantasy RPG centered on creature companionship. Players bond with mysterious creatures called Kibo, explore a vast continent, engage in action combat with party members, and enjoy building and life-sim elements.

• Developer: Fizzglee Studio (Tencent)
• Publisher: Tencent/Proxima Beta
• Combat Type: Action/romance RPG
• World Type: Exploration-focused (futuristic city, not open-world)
• Betas: CBTs (e.g., 2025 NAVI tests)
• Release Date: TBA (2026 expected)
• What the Game Is: A 3D “dokidoki” romance RPG featuring beautiful rider girls (motorcycle/mecha waifus) in a futuristic city called Terminus. Players take the role of a “Navigator,” build relationships with the girls, and experience thrilling motorcycle action and romantic storylines in a flashy, character-driven package.

• Developer/Publisher: HoYoverse
• Combat Type: Auto-battler/strategy (deck-building)
• World Type: Adventure/creature-collecting (plane-hopping)
• Betas: Multiple CBTs (Nexus Bond Test 2025, Aspect Exploration 2026)
• Release Date: TBA (late 2026/2027 likely)
• What the Game Is: A creature-collector adventure strategy game in the Honkai universe. Players travel across planes, bond with mysterious Anima creatures, build decks, and engage in auto-battler style combat while exploring and collecting. It offers a fresh twist on HoYoverse’s formula.

• Developer: TiMi Studio (Tencent)
• Publisher: Tencent
• Combat Type: Action multiplayer 
• World Type: Large-scale open-world Eastern fantasy
• Betas: Alphas/tests (China launched April 2026; global alpha soon)
• Release Date: Global TBA (2026 expected)
• What the Game Is: A massive open-world online multiplayer RPG expanding the popular Honor of Kings MOBA IP into a vast Eastern fantasy realm. Players explore diverse civilizations, engage in large-scale action combat, swap heroes dynamically, and participate in multiplayer adventures across a richly detailed world.

• Developer: CONTROL9 (ex-Nikke devs)
• Publisher: Smilegate
• Combat Type: Tactical time-travel RPG (real-time combat with skill-based positioning / semi-automated hybrid)
• World Type: Narrative-focused time-travel RPG (not traditional open-world)
• Betas: Early demo tested; full betas upcoming
• Release Date: TBA (2026 worldwide likely)
• What the Game Is: A collectible time-travel RPG where players fight to save the future across different eras. It combines flashy real-time combat with tactical positioning, deep story, and character collection. Developed by veterans from Goddess of Victory: NIKKE.

• Developer/Publisher: HoYoverse
• Combat Type: Life-sim/action hybrid
• World Type: Open world
• Betas: In testing
• Release Date: TBA (2026-2027)
• What the Game Is: A cozy yet gacha-driven life simulation game with creature and planet-building elements. Players explore, customize, and manage their own little world while collecting and interacting with characters in a relaxed, charming HoYoverse-style experience.

• Developer: Diversity Game Studio
• Publisher: Independent/TBA
• Combat Type: Action ARPG
• World Type: Anime-style open-world
• Betas: Upcoming
• Release Date: TBA
• What the Game Is: An ambitious indie open-world action RPG with striking anime-style visuals. It offers large-scale exploration, fluid combat, and high production values.

• Developer: RX Studio (Nexon internal division)
• Publisher: Nexon Games
• Combat Type: Tactical / Strategic character-driven (evolving Blue Archive mechanics)
• World Type: Isekai / Lifestyle RPG with life sim elements
• Betas: Internal testing completed; no major public closed beta announced yet
• Release Date: TBA (2026–2027 expected)
• What the Game Is: A 3D anime-style isekai lifestyle RPG developed by Nexon’s RX Studio (featuring key developers from the Blue Archive team). It blends fantasy adventure with slice-of-life and life sim elements in a fully 3D world, featuring strategic character-driven combat, deep character interactions, and cinematic skill sequences. Built on Unreal Engine 5, it aims to expand on Blue Archive’s formula with more immersive living-world elements.

• Developer: Saroasis Studios
• Publisher: TBA
• Combat Type: Action RPG
• World Type: Open-world with time-loop mechanics
• Betas: Technical/closed beta tests (recruitment ongoing)
• Release Date: TBA (2027+)
• What the Game Is: A groundbreaking open-world action RPG centered on time-loop mechanics. Players are “Recursors” trapped in repeating cycles of doom and must use each reset to learn, change outcomes, and save the world. It features D&D-style player choices, spirit companions, gliding/flying exploration, and narrative consequences that carry across loops.

• Developer: Joker Studio (Identity V team)
• Publisher: NetEase Games
• Combat Type: Hybrid – Strategic turn-based combat on islands + Real-time naval battles at sea (with roguelike progression)
• World Type: Open-world ocean adventure (vast dynamic seas, islands, and exploration)
• Betas: “Wanderer” Closed Alpha (February 2026 on PC); more tests expected
• Release Date: 2026 (PC, PS5, iOS, Android)
• What the Game Is: A free-to-play ocean fantasy adventure RPG where you play as a puppetfolk sailor seeking lost memories. Sail across a massive, dynamic sea, battle pirates and strange monsters, build your fleet and crew (with 300+ companions), and shape the evolving pirate city of Orbtopia through your choices.

• Developer: Silver Studio (Elementa)
• Publisher: Elementa
• Combat Type: Real-time action ARPG
• World Type: Open-world Victorian fantasy metropolis
• Betas: Early tests (e.g., Monotype Beta); more expected later 2026
• Release Date: TBA (likely late 2026 or 2027)
• What the Game Is: A stylish open-world action RPG set in the shadowy, industrialized Victorian metropolis of Silvernia. Players act as detectives solving mysteries while battling enemies with fluid, high-quality combat. 

A China / Asia / Japan launch in 2026 is plausible. A Global version is expected to be delayed significantly. The game has moved into active closed beta testing in 2026, which is a strong signal that a 2026 launch window is realistic (at least regionally).

CBT2 (“Constant Sequence Test”): Ran April 3–11, 2026 in China (PC + Android + iOS). Data-wipe test. Feedback was largely positive on visuals, character models/animations, huge map size, 180+ “Kibo” creatures, combat feel, and content volume. Criticism focused on UI polish, balance, tutorials, and some gameplay depth.
Korea CBT (via Nexon): Scheduled for May 15–18, 2026 (PC + Android). Just announced; invites went out recently.
A possible third closed beta could happen in September 2026 followed by a public/open beta by end of 2026, which could line up with a late-2026 launch. No full open beta or release date has been officially announced yet.

Publishers confirmed thus far:

China: Manjuu (self or direct).
Japan: Yostar.
Korea: Nexon.
Global / English: Still no publisher announced (social channels are dormant). This is the biggest community worry – with many expecting Asia-first launch with global coming months or years later (similar to some other Chinese titles).

Pre-registration is open now on the official site (azurpromilia.com) for CN and JP.

In a gaming landscape packed with gacha-heavy mobile titles and sprawling but often empty open worlds, Ananta (formerly Project Mugen) stands out as NetEase’s ambitious attempt to blend the freedom of GTA, the traversal of Spider-Man, the relationship-building of Persona, and the chaotic urban life of Yakuza, all wrapped in a vibrant anime aesthetic.

At the heart of Ananta is Nova City, a dense urban environment roughly the size of Manhattan. Developers aren’t just focusing on empty scale – they’re taking the time to create something dense and interactive. The city operates on a 24/7 cycle with NPCs following realistic routines. Cause a traffic jam in one district, and it ripples across the map. Start a fight, and bystanders react like real people: fleeing, calling for help, or simply staring.
The philosophy is simple: if you see it, you should be able to interact with it. Open doors, play actual basketball mini-games, watch movies in theaters, snoop through NPCs’ phones, rearrange furniture while people are sitting, or just cause harmless mayhem (this is where we’re REALLY going to have fun.) You can punch or shoot civilians for chaos, but the game stops short of letting you kill them – unfortunately. Traversal makes use of Spider-Man swinging between skyscrapers, grinding rails, and zipping around the city with style. Co-op multiplayer lets friends join the fun seamlessly.
Updates won’t just drop new areas. Instead, the team plans to gradually increase urban density in existing zones – adding more shops, theaters, and activities, so the city feels like it’s genuinely growing and evolving over time.

You play as The Captain, the new leader of the Anti-Chaos Directorate (ACD), Nova City’s peacekeeping force. Both male and female Captain options are available at launch (I confirmed this at Gamescom 2025). Supposedly, dialogue and romance options will differ slightly depending on your choice of protagonist.

The biggest departure from typical free-to-play gacha games is the lack of character gacha. Every crew member joins through story progression or organic open-world encounters. You start solo and naturally recruit a full squad as you play, there are absolutely no banners, no pity pulls, no wallet pressure. Characters have their own lives, jobs, and personalities in the city until events pull them into your crew. Switching between them mid-gameplay is seamless (similar to GTA, with each character doing their own thing in city independently of you,) each bringing unique combat skills, traversal tools, and story perspectives. Ananta also boasts an exceptionally flexible fashion system that perfectly complements the crew-focused gameplay. Every character has access to the exact same pool of outfits – there are no character-exclusive clothes. Once you obtain an outfit (through free or premium cosmetic options), any crew member of the matching gender can wear it.

Most impressively, all clothing dynamically warps and morphs to perfectly fit each individual character’s unique body type, proportions, height, and build. Whether a character is tall and athletic, short and curvy, or anywhere in between, the outfit intelligently adapts so it always looks natural and tailored. This makes every cosmetic far more versatile and valuable, giving players massive creative freedom to style their entire squad exactly how they want. And you bet players will goon to this like none other.

PVP has been confirmed, and it sounds GTA-inspired with open-world flair. The game explicitly supports PVP alongside free building and exploration. Information publicly available online notes the following potential game modes:

Close-combat Battle Royale
Prop Hunt
FPS mode
Extraction Shooter
Escape/co-op modes
Free Battle (Minecraft-style Bed Wars)
Special skills fighting
Tactical Battle Royale
Racing
Sports-type events
Large-scale dungeon scoring
Traditional dungeon modes

This expands Ananta beyond pure story and sandbox exploration, into competitive multiplayer territory.

NetEase plans to keep polishing core gameplay and stockpiling long-term content. According to a mention on their website recently, the full Global release is being targeted for the end of Q3 2026 (July-September). Whether this happens, or is a placeholder date for investors remains to be seen.

An offline/closed technical test already took place in January 2026. Feedback from participants (including some streamers and TapTap users) was overwhelmingly positive. Community consensus points to more public or closed beta tests arriving soon – likely in the coming months – if the release in Q3 is to be believed, to stress-test servers and refine the experience.

Pre-registrations are open now on the official site, with cross-platform play confirmed.

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.