NetEase's Ananta Locks In January 15, 2027 — And Wangyue Just Lost Its Producer
At Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 26, NetEase's Naked Rain studio dated Ananta for January 15, 2027 and showed cities modelled on Shanghai and Hangzhou. On September 20, Shiyue Network's competing urban open-world RPG Wangyue announced that executive producer Hua Tao was stepping down, with studio head Zong Huan taking over. One game is counting down to launch; the other just changed hands at the top.
What Happened: One Launch Date, One Internal Letter
Ananta's date and platforms
At Gamescom Opening Night Live in the early hours of August 26, 2026, NetEase's Naked Rain studio announced Ananta would launch globally on January 15, 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, Android and iOS. Built in Unreal Engine 5, it spans two cities — Xinqi and Chongxiao — with map design inspired by Shanghai (the Bund skyline, Oriental Pearl Tower, Wukang Road) and Hangzhou.
Wangyue's producer stepped down on September 20
On September 20, Hua Tao, executive producer of Shiyue Network's Wangyue, sent an internal letter announcing he would step down from the role and move to an honorary producer position. Development now reports to Zong Huan, head of the Star Studio, with combat handed to Yu Chang. Hua Tao said the project needed "more stable, sustained organisational management" .
Ripple One: Ananta's Boldest Move Isn't the Graphics — It's Killing Gacha
How free characters change the business model
Ananta explicitly rejects the traditional anime gacha loop: every character unlocks for free, and monetisation shifts to cosmetics. Official material says the team "designed the game around cosmetic monetisation from the start." In a genre whose cash flow is built on pulls, that is flipping the table.
Shanghai and Hangzhou became two playable cities
Xinqi leans kinetic — wingsuit flight, yachts and sports cars, swinging between towers. Chongxiao leans urban life — skateboards, shared bikes, flying cars skimming over West Lake. Once city immersion lands, the competition stops being about whose trailer looks better and becomes about who hands the city over first.
Ripple Two: China's Urban Open-World Race Enters Delivery Year
Wangyue's five years and three pivots
Wangyue started as a boxed-action game, pivoted to open world in early 2021, showed its first gameplay in October 2023, then rebuilt around a Chinese urban setting and companion creatures called Moon Spirits in 2024, with its first test in January 2025. The studio says the rebuilt version took 15 months, with the next test planned for Q4 2026.
One rival already shipped
Perfect World's Hotta Studio launched Yihuan across all platforms on April 23, 2026 — the first Chinese urban open-world RPG to actually reach players in this race.
Ripple Three: A Cluster of Live-Service Games Is Shutting Down
The 2026 shutdown list
The Joy of Life mobile game announced on September 15 that it will close on November 16 — it launched in March 2022 and topped RMB 100 million in first-month revenue. Final Fantasy XIV: Crystal World, Tencent and Square Enix's mobile spin-off, closes on September 30 after only 468 days live.
The shared causes
Expiring licences, a stuck positioning between hardcore and casual, and core-player attrition sum up most cases.
Analysis: This Round Is About Shipping, Not Trailers
First-mover advantage is measured in player hours
Urban open worlds work by getting players to move into a city and build a routine there. Once an earlier game has that habit, a later one isn't competing for a download — it's competing for a reason to relocate. NetEase brings distribution, marketing weight and content-production depth; that is the mass Wangyue has to face head-on.
The five-year bill
Wangyue has spent five years pivoting, rebuilding and reworking. Every revision raises the competitive bar and also raises sunk cost. With a rival locked in for January 2027, the price of yet another delay climbs fast.
Risk View: A Date Is Not a Finished Game
From first test to launch
Between a plan and a launch sit test data, performance optimisation and content volume. Wangyue's rebuilt version hasn't been tested yet, and the studio itself notes some systems could not be fully implemented in its BW build.
The catch in free characters
With gacha removed, all revenue pressure lands on cosmetics and content updates. If skins underperform, the long-term content budget tightens — something you only see in year two.
FAQ
When does Ananta launch and on what platforms?
January 15, 2027, globally, on PC, PlayStation 5, Android and iOS, with PS5 Pro enhancements .
Does Ananta really have no gacha?
NetEase positions it as a non-traditional gacha title: all characters unlock free, with cosmetic monetisation .
When can players try Wangyue?
The studio plans a new-version first test in Q4 2026 after roughly 15 months of rework; no launch date has been announced.
Which Chinese urban open-world games have already shipped?
Perfect World's Yihuan launched across platforms on April 23, 2026, making it the first in this subgenre to reach players.
Your Turn
When Ananta opens on January 15, 2027, do you move into Xinqi on day one — or wait for Wangyue's beta and compare? Come discuss in the Gghubs comments.