Tokyo Game Show 2025 ended with a major victory for Naked Rain Studio and NetEase: their urban open-world RPG ANANTA won the Future Division Japan Game Awards — a category that selects the most anticipated releases.
The main surprise is the absence of gacha with characters. For a free game with anime visuals at the level of Genshin Impact, this seemed like a mandatory decision. But in an interview, producer Ash explained why the studio abandoned this model.
"We created the game with an emphasis on living the lives of the characters. In reality, you have one life, but in ANANTA you can live as many lives as there are characters available. We want the player to be able to freely choose characters and enjoy different lives. That's why we decided to make them available without gacha."
In ANANTA, each character will have a unique storyline and role in the city, and outside the main scenario, players will be able to roam the metropolis and switch between characters at any time. According to the developers, gacha would disrupt the intended style of the game.
But how will monetization work then? Ash clarified:
"The basic gameplay will remain completely free. Only skins and limited-time events will be paid for."
In addition to costumes, upgrades for housing and transportation are sold for in-game currency, but some cosmetics will be released in the form of paid events.
ANANTA is being developed for PC, PS5, iOS, and Android, and pre-registration is already open.
