On November 6, ahead of its participation in G-STAR 2026, HoYoverse held a media showcase at Grand Hyatt Seoul. Returning to G-STAR for the first time in four years since G-STAR 2022, HoYoverse plans to welcome visitors with two new titles: 'Petit Planet', scheduled to launch on December 4, and 'Honkai: Nexus Anima', which is currently recruiting final beta testers. Following recent news shared via official livestreams and videos, Lan Huang, Country Manager of HoYoverse Korea, Sam, Global PR Lead at HoYoverse, and Seven, CEO of Global Business at HoYoverse, presented what experiences they aim to deliver to players on-site at G-STAR.
Returning to G-STAR after 4 years: Introducing two new HoYoverse titles targeting a broader player base
Ahead of the main presentation, Global PR Lead Sam highlighted the importance of the Korean market and community, stating, "Korea has always been a vital pillar of HoYoverse's global community. The interest, feedback, and support from Korean players have been an immense source of strength for HoYoverse." He added, "Thanks to your support and love, the worlds and experiences we create can continue to flourish."
Seven, CEO of Global Business, outlined the company's vision: "Even as HoYoverse has grown into a company that connects with global gamers, our mission remains unchanged. We continue to strive to offer enjoyable, constantly fresh, and engaging experiences for everyone." He then went on to share key milestones achieved by HoYoverse.
First, 'Genshin Impact', launched in September 2020, is an open-world RPG enjoyed by over 40 million global players. Over the past six years, it has earned immense love and won major honors at ceremonies including the Golden Joystick Awards and The Game Awards. The journey across Teyvat continues, with all seven nations now revealed, and further content updates will continue to expand the adventure.
'Honkai: Star Rail', released in April 2023, surpassed 10 million pre-registrations before launch and received accolades such as Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards alongside multiple major game industry awards. Its cumulative downloads have topped 150 million, and it boasts over 1 million followers on each of its major social media channels.
HoYoverse's urban fantasy action RPG 'Zenless Zone Zero' launched in July 2024 and achieved over 100 million cumulative downloads across PC, console, and mobile platforms. Praised by players for its fast-paced action and stylish combat, it showcased a new side of HoYoverse's style with unique visuals and cartoon-inspired aesthetics. Holding over 19 million global followers across major social media and community platforms, it introduced new content in 2026 and expanded to Steam. It also earned nominations and awards at events such as the PlayStation Partner Awards and gamescom.
Next, under the slogan "More World, More Story, More to Discover," HoYoverse presented its two upcoming titles. 'Petit Planet', which captures warm, everyday life stories, will officially launch on December 4 for PC, iOS, and Android. Alongside it, the company is preparing 'Honkai: Nexus Anima', a creature-collecting adventure strategy game featuring a rich, deep world where players unlock new powers through "Nexus Battles".
Lan Huang, Country Manager, continued the presentation for the two new titles. First up was 'Honkai: Nexus Anima', a new entry in the 'Honkai' series. Set in a world where humans coexist with mysterious creatures called "Anima," it is an Anima creature-raising adventure strategy game, marking HoYoverse's first step into this genre.
The worldbuilding of 'Honkai: Nexus Anima' begins with the keyword "Bond". Bonds represent the force connecting paired concepts. After the "Honkai" event occurred, these bonds collapsed, severing their connections. Through a mysterious mechanism, these scattered bonds were reborn into creatures known as "Anima". Players take on the role of a Planestrider, forging bonds with Anima across various realms and embarking on a new adventure.
The Anima featured in the game possess distinct personalities and are closely integrated into people's everyday lives. Key Anima introduced include 'Tsumei', born from a plum branch; 'Umbrella', an unpredictable cat-like Anima that transforms into an umbrella depending on weather changes; and 'Shadow', which appears only at night and moves freely through darkness. Together with these diverse Anima, players will engage in battles against other Anima Masters, explore unknown worlds, uncover hidden truths from the past, and navigate storylines involving various factions. Key characters introduced include 'Baimei', the current Tyrant of Reality elected through a unique electoral system, and 'Olympia', the acting manager of True Nexus Group's Iya Branch who has brought order to Iya Village.
There are various ways to forge bonds with Anima. While strolling through the main setting, 'Iya Village', players can encounter different Anima by chance and establish a bond by defeating them in battle, though some Anima require advance preparation. Players can also encounter Anima while talking to people on the streets, reaching mysterious locations, or completing challenge content to meet rare Anima. Once a bond is formed, players can take photos together or assign them custom names. Some Anima can even evolve after fulfilling specific challenges, offering a more powerful battle experience.
The game's core features are highlighted in three main areas: ▲ a story with branching endings, ▲ a lively, lived-in Iya Village, and ▲ strategic combat alongside Anima.
First, there is no set answer in 'Honkai: Nexus Anima'. Every choice a player makes influences story branches and endings. As players interact with various factions such as 'True Nexus Group' and 'Nexus Association', the plot unfolds differently depending on which side they cooperate with. Although incorporating a multi-branching narrative system is a bold decision for a live-service game, 'Honkai: Nexus Anima' has decisively embraced it.
The central location, 'Iya Village', is crafted as a vibrant space bursting with everyday life, spanning new residential towns, commercial areas, and landmarks. Players can dispatch Anima to manage shops and run businesses, or ride Anima as mounts to fly through the skies and explore every corner of the village while solving puzzles.
The battle system adopts an auto-battler mechanic, where players assemble various Anima by harnessing elemental principles to fight automatically. Activating synergies between principles to trigger powerful effects and gain an advantage is key, while deploying up to three characters to use their skills at crucial moments adds another layer of strategy. In particular, deploying a character alongside their designated "Companion Anima" grants extra enhancements to that Anima.
'Honkai: Nexus Anima' will run its Final Closed Beta Test starting November 25, with an official release slated for spring of next year.
Set to launch globally on December 4, 'Petit Planet' is HoYoverse's first-ever planet life simulation game. In the "Starsea," where stars connect to form galaxies, players take on the role of a "Planet Tender" owning their very own planet. They can experience the joy of managing their planet, exploring the Starsea, and crafting a cozy everyday life.
The core keyword of 'Petit Planet' is "connection." With no fixed way to play, the heart of the game lies in customizing your planet in your own style, building relationships with unique Neighbors, and interacting with other players. As "Luka Seeds" grow into trees, the planet expands, spawning diverse terrains such as new farmlands, mountains, and oceans, which continuously opens up more daily activities to enjoy. It is designed not as a space to merely observe, but as a living home to cultivate with your own hands.
The game also features a building and decorating system that lets players freely customize their personal spaces. Players can acquire rare outfits and furniture through 'Lumi Home Shopping' or obtain "Idea Cards" via various activities to craft their own custom furniture.
Living on the planet are charming Neighbors with distinct personalities, such as 'Winky', 'Isaki', and 'Saphir'. Talking with Neighbors or exchanging gifts increases intimacy, leading them to provide helpful assistance and letting players dig into their hidden backstories to forge deeper bonds. More diverse Neighbors will continue to be added in future updates.
Through the "Starsea Journey" system, players can experience the fun of pioneering the unknown by exploring new regions, meeting various characters, and gathering fresh resources. Additionally, life and exploration activities such as farming, bug catching, fishing, and beachcombing for crustaceans allow players to fill up their encyclopedia and discover new surprises every day. Collected creatures can be displayed at the "Museum of All Things" or used as cooking ingredients.
In the social hub known as the 'Galactic Bazaar', players can interact with other Planet Tenders. They can communicate and enjoy the game in their own way, such as gathering around a campfire to chat or enjoying a dance game on stage.
Offering an experience distinct from existing HoYoverse titles, the two new games — Honkai: Nexus Anima and Petit Planet — will be showcased for an early preview at G-STAR 2026, alongside various on-site events for visiting players.
Q&A
'Petit Planet' is rated for all ages. How are you formulating your operational strategy to cover all age groups?
Murphy, Design Lead = As an all-ages game, we built three systems to protect players within social features. First, in the Galactic Bazaar, chat is designed to be accessible only when seated. Second, the friends system strictly differentiates between strangers and registered friends. Finally, we implemented a toggle switch for minor protection; enabling the minor protection toggle restricts social features so minor accounts can be managed safely.
'Petit Planet' recently held an extended test prior to launch. Which content received the best response, and what areas are being improved based on player feedback?
Murphy, Design Lead = The element that received the best response during the previous test was the interaction with NPCs. Features like Neighbors remembering player actions and building interactions were well-received. In response to feedback, we adjusted the frequency of NPCs approaching players first so that introverted players do not feel overwhelmed. Also, while the game has many cute and friendly characters, many players requested NPCs with stronger, distinct personalities, so we are reinforcing those character designs as well.
The dialogue system with AI-driven NPCs in the Galactic Bazaar was impressive. How are its degree of freedom and safety measures designed, and how do you plan to develop it further?
Yinli Huang, Art Lead = A key AI feature includes the open conversation system with 'Store Manager Nalo'. We collect data only to the extent required by local laws and maintain strict security protocols, and players have the right to request corrections, edits, or deletion of their personal information. We have also put safety measures in place, such as providing an option to toggle AI features on or off. Beyond 'Store Manager Nalo', more AI-powered NPCs like 'Amira Rabbit' are prepared, and as we introduce them, we plan to continuously refine the system based on player feedback.
'Petit Planet' targets a different audience compared to existing HoYoverse titles, and 'Honkai: Nexus Anima' also feels distinct. What is your perspective on your target audience?
Lan Huang, Country Manager = 'Honkai: Nexus Anima' is still actively under development, so it is difficult to share many details at this stage. We plan to collect player feedback during the Final Closed Beta Test starting November 25 and continuously refine the game.
Yinli Huang, Art Lead = 'Petit Planet' definitely reaches a broader and different player base compared to previous HoYoverse games. It sets itself apart by bringing together fans of life simulation, players who prefer relaxing content, and those who enjoy social activities with others. In particular, full-fledged social features are being introduced by HoYoverse for the first time, so we hope players look forward to them.
What is the background and key goal behind HoYoverse attending G-STAR after four years? Especially given that you recently held your dedicated event 'HoYoLand', why attend another offline event now?
Lan Huang, Country Manager = G-STAR is Korea's flagship gaming event, bringing together domestic and international gamers and industry professionals. While 'HoYoLand' was a celebration dedicated to our existing fanbase, we decided to attend G-STAR to give Korean gamers an early look at our two distinct new titles. We want to hear vivid, firsthand feedback on-site regarding what works well and what could be improved. At this G-STAR, rather than obsessing over metrics like booth visitor numbers, listening to player feedback is our primary focus.
My young daughter loved seeing photos of 'Petit Planet' characters taken at gamescom. It feels like a social game families can enjoy together, but as a mobile and online game, the business model (monetization) is a concern. How are you preparing this?
Murphy, Design Lead = As mentioned earlier, guardians can directly control and manage settings via the minor protection toggle. In addition, all core gameplay content can be enjoyed without spending money, and NPC interactions as well as Neighbor content are provided free of charge. Families can enjoy the game with peace of mind without such concerns.
Since this is a game about decorating your planet, is there a workshop-style feature where players who lack design skills can download and use other users' creations? Also, as a HoYoverse title, could characters from other IPs make an appearance?
Murphy, Design Lead = The core of 'Petit Planet' is that all players can enjoy it equally. Decorating a planet is a form of self-expression, so we created a "Blueprint" system that allows players to freely apply UGC and furniture layouts to their planets. Blueprints can be shared with other players, so even those who struggle with design can download shared blueprints and easily apply them to their own planets.
Yinli Huang, Art Lead = Right now, we are focusing on polishing the development of the game itself, so there are no current plans for collaborations with internal or external IPs. We will announce any related plans separately once they are finalized.
Finally, do you have any message for Korean HoYoverse fans?
Lan Huang, Country Manager = Thank you for the love and support you have shown us. We are pouring our heart and soul into preparing both new titles. We ask for the continued interest and anticipation of our fans.
