It has been quite a bit since we last received any real updates about Ananta, but NetEase finally shared some new information during its latest earnings call. According to NetEase VP Zhipeng Hu, the studio is intentionally trying to move away from the standard formula most open-world anime gacha games currently follow. And that is honestly really good news.
Instead of focusing purely on huge maps or exploration that relies on a lot of combat, the team says Ananta is being built around the idea of “authentic urban life”. The latest earnings call has been reported by GamingonPhone, and here is the most important information you should know about!
More City Life and Social Features
NetEase also explained that they want to keep Ananta’s base identity centered around “living in the city” and not just make it another fantasy world that you can explore, and where you fight monsters all the time. The developers hinted at various activities such as:
- Shopping
- Social interactions
- Exploring neighborhoods
- Experiencing everyday city life
It does sound like a really chill game. According to NetEase, the goal is to really create a modern open-world experience where the city itself feels alive and interactive. This also fits with earlier gameplay footage showing characters swinging through the city, driving vehicles, interacting with NPCs, and exploring highly detailed urban environments.
Netease Wants to Go Beyond Typical Anime Gacha
Another interesting point from the earnings call is that NetEase does not seem to view Ananta as a traditional “anime gacha” game. The company said the project is being designed to appeal to a much bigger audience through the narrative tone they gave to the game’s story, the unique gameplay systems, art direction, and even accessibility features.
That approach already separates it somewhat from many current open-world gacha games that are more into fantasy RPG structures, with huge open worlds filled with enemies to fight.
Ananta instead seems much closer to a modern urban sandbox mixed with anime-inspired art.
The Team Says Quality Matters More Than Releasing Quickly
NetEase also addressed concerns about the game’s release timing. As everyone knows, we still do not have any information about any beta or release date, and a lot of people started to wonder if the game was even still happening or not.
The company admitted that the open-world market is becoming increasingly crowded, but said it would rather spend more time polishing the project than launch something “ordinary.” And again, this is a pretty good thing. It means they put all their efforts into releasing a finished and beautiful project, and we are definitely willing to wait longer for that!
According to Hu, the team believes players are still looking for genuinely innovative, high-quality games, even in an increasingly competitive market. And they are right.
So for the time being, you probably need to wait a little longer before we get a release date, but once we do, it will most likely be amazing.
Ananta Continues to Generate Huge Interest
Despite the lack of recent updates, the interest around the game remains extremely high.
NetEase confirmed that Ananta has already surpassed 17 million global pre-registrations, and that is a huge number considering how little information has actually been released so far.
If the developers truly manage to deliver the kind of large-scale urban life simulation they are describing, Ananta could end up becoming one of the more unique open-world releases in the genre over the next few years.
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