Ananta at Gamescom 2026: Release Date, New City, Demo and Everything Announced

The Release Date and Launch Trailer

Ananta opened with a world premiere at Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live on August 25, 2026. The roughly three-minute trailer confirmed a global launch on January 15, 2027 on PC (Steam and NetEase's launcher), PlayStation 5, iOS and Android. It is free-to-play, with no character gacha. GameSpot noted how hard it leans into internet memes, which fits the game's "Go Viral. Save the world." tagline.

Full details on platforms and timing are on our Ananta release date page.

A Second City: Chongxiao's Lingyun City

The trailer's official description says the story "unfolds between Nova City and Chongxiao's Lingyun City". According to Gematsu and Game Informer, Lingyun draws on Shanghai, Hangzhou and Tokyo. It has cinemas, mahjong parlors, arcades, cafés, gyms, restaurants and hot springs, plus more than 100 NPCs with their own stories, some of whom can be recruited.

Read the full breakdown in our Lingyun City guide.

What Was in the Hands-On Demo

Press previews describe a demo of about 40 minutes (AXYO), split into several parts:

• Captain: a combat tutorial, a vehicle chase and a short open-world section with Spider-Man-style swinging.
• Yinglong: a stealth mission inside a mansion. Yinglong (Wei Yinglong) is Lingyun's 21st Director and one of the six characters on the official site.
• Lykaia: a linear chase mixing shooting, driving and an outnumbered brawl, according to GamesRadar+ and Gachago.
• Multiplayer sandbox: a mode with Captain, Taffy and Richie, according to MMORPG.com.

Impressions were broadly positive about the action and the sheer variety of activities, though some previewers found the demo pulled in many directions at once.

100+ Hours at Launch, 7 Years of Support

In an interview with Insider Gaming, Naked Rain's publishing team said Ananta will launch with more than 100 hours of content and that the plan is to support it for at least seven years. That is a stated plan, not a contractual guarantee, but it signals a long-term live-service commitment.

DLSS 4.5 and Ray Tracing

NVIDIA listed Ananta among the Gamescom 2026 titles that will add DLSS 4.5 and ray tracing in the future. No date was given. See the Ananta PC requirements to check your hardware.

One of the Show's Biggest Wishlist Spikes

Ananta gained around 302,000 Steam wishlists between August 23 and August 30, 2026, according to Alinea Analytics. That put it third among Gamescom games, behind The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past expansion and Warlock. Pre-registrations had already passed 17 million.

What Was Not Announced

• The exact launch time and time zone
• Cross-play and cross-save
• Any global beta before launch
• Official battle pass details. Gurugamer reported a 120-level pass with free and paid tiers, which NetEase has not confirmed.

Female Captain Confirmed for Launch

Producer Ash had already told Famitsu in September 2025 that players will be able to choose a female protagonist at release. The team repeated it at Gamescom 2026. She hasn't appeared in official marketing yet, and the Gamescom demo used the default Captain.

Frequently Asked Questions