Half of this year's most-hyped gacha games are already out. Arknights: Endfield shipped its base-building open-world RPG early in 2026, and Neverness to Everness has been live for months. Good news if you were waiting on those. The better news is that the pipeline behind them is still full, and the next wave includes some of the most ambitious projects the genre has ever attempted.
A word before the list: these are unreleased. Release windows are soft, betas move, and scope shrinks between the trailer and the launch build more often than anyone likes. Treat everything here as anticipation, not a promise, and pre-register with your expectations set accordingly. With that said, here are the five upcoming gacha games most worth your attention right now, ranked by how excited it is reasonable to be.
The short version
- Ananta for the most ambitious open world in development, a living cyber-city with real freedom.
- Honkai: Nexus Anima for HoYoverse's next big swing, a creature-collector with their production muscle behind it.
- Azur Promilia for a genuinely cozy monster-taming open world from a studio that treats its players well.
- Duet Night Abyss for stylish action combat and a darker, moodier tone than the mainstream.
- Silver Palace for a distinctive Victorian steampunk detective fantasy that looks like nothing else coming.
1. Ananta
Formerly known as Project Mugen, Ananta is NetEase's enormous bet on the urban open-world formula, and on paper it is the most ambitious game on this list. The pitch is a sprawling, modern cyber-city you actually live in: parkour across rooftops, hijack vehicles for chases, and fight through stylish combat, all wrapped around gacha character collection. It is chasing the "anime open-world sandbox with real systemic freedom" dream that a lot of studios have promised and few have delivered.
The reason it tops the list is the sheer scope of what it is attempting. The reason to stay cautious is exactly the same. Games this big are the hardest to land, and open-world promises are where hype most often outruns reality. Watch for: how the traversal and city interactivity actually feel in a wide beta, not a curated trailer.
2. Honkai: Nexus Anima
HoYoverse rarely misses, and their next project is a creature-collecting RPG with strategic team battles, a real departure from the character-action formula that made Genshin, Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero. Bringing HoYo's production values, monetization polish, and endgame design experience to a monster-collector puts it near the top of any anticipation list on pedigree alone.
The interesting question is whether the studio's strengths translate to a genre built on collection and synergy rather than pilotable carries. If it does, this is a day-one download for a huge slice of the player base. We have a running breakdown of everything we know about Nexus Anima that we update as details firm up.
3. Azur Promilia
From Manjuu, the studio behind Azur Lane, comes an open-world monster-taming RPG set in a bright fantasy world where you raise, bond with, and adventure alongside your companions in a living ecosystem. Think of it as the cozy, creature-first counterweight to the action-heavy titles on this list, closer in spirit to a laid-back collectathon than a combat gauntlet.
Manjuu has a long-earned reputation for treating its players generously, which buys Azur Promilia a lot of goodwill before it even launches. If the open world has enough to actually do and the taming loop has depth, this could be the comfort pick of the wave. Watch for: whether the monster-bonding systems are more than a coat of paint on a standard open world.
4. Duet Night Abyss
The moody one. Duet Night Abyss has been drawing eyes with a darker, more stylized tone than the sunny mainstream, promising fluid action combat and a distinctive art direction, with online tests rolling out and early "Vanguard" access circulating through its official channels. It reads as a game aimed at players who want their gacha with a sharper, more atmospheric edge.
It is earlier in the public cycle than the titles above, so there is more unknown here, but the aesthetic and combat glimpses have earned it a real following. Watch for: how generous and how grindy the model turns out to be once a broad test exposes the economy.
5. Silver Palace
The wildcard, and the reason this list is more interesting than a lineup of open worlds. Silver Palace is a Victorian steampunk detective fantasy built around supernatural mysteries, a setting almost nobody else in the space is touching. If you are tired of neon cities and elemental anime worlds, a gaslit game about investigation and the occult is a genuinely fresh proposition.
It is the least proven entry here and the furthest from a confirmed launch, so temper expectations hardest on this one. But distinctive is valuable in a crowded genre, and Silver Palace is swinging for a mood the mainstream ignores. Watch for: whether the detective and mystery systems are core gameplay or set dressing.
How to play the pre-launch game
The smart way to approach a wave like this is not to hype yourself into disappointment. Pre-register for the ones that fit what you actually enjoy, so you get the launch rewards, but do not commit real money or real hours until a wide beta or a solid launch shows the game holds up past the trailer. The genre has a long history of gorgeous reveals that shipped hollow.
We track this space as it moves. Our upcoming units and releases hub follows what is next across the games we cover, and if you want to know where to spend your time today while these cook, the roundups of the best free-to-play gacha and best gacha for beginners point you at the field that already delivers.
