Is a Nintendo Nightmare Approaching? Chinese Pokémon and Animal Crossing Clones to be Released in 2026
This year, Nintendo will face a wave of games attempting to compete with hits in segments almost entirely controlled by the Japanese publisher.
Chinese developers are not wasting time and are directly challenging Nintendo. As early as 2026, players will receive projects such as Honkai: Nexus Anima - a competitor to Pokémon, and Petit Planet - a rival to Animal Crossing from the creators of Genshin Impact. All these games will be free and distributed for free.
Another game that could seriously shake up the market is Aniimo. Chinese studio Pawprint has announced the second wave of beta testing. The test starts on January 23. To participate, you need toregister on the official Aniimo website in the "Join Closed Beta" section.
Aniimo will offer online gameplay in the spirit of Pokémon. Players will be able to explore the world of Aniimo together. All this is in a high-quality graphical shell and a free-to-play format. The game will be released on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC on Steam.
