A once-niche subgenre, gacha games are on the rise. Thanks toGenshin Impact’s breakout success with mainstream audiences, gachas are no longer considered merely mobile games with addictive mechanics but rather a full-fledged genre in gaming.
Owing to the popularity and lucrative nature of the business, more and more developers from across the world are throwing their hats into the ring. The number of highly anticipated upcoming gacha games has only risen over the years, with no signs of the trend slowing down anytime soon.
10Dungeon & Fighter: ARAD
Hig-Octane Brawler With Elemental Combat
Based on the legendaryDungeon & Fighterseries that has seen immense popularity in Asian regions,Dungeon & Fighter: ARADis ananime open-worldgacha game developed in Unreal Engine 5. Developed by Nexon,Dungeon & Fighter: ARADwas first announced in October 2024 as Project DW.
Not much is known about the title other than what’s been shown in teaser videos and the cinematic trailer shown off at Gamescom 2024. What can be confirmed is that the title will feature multiple characters, a gacha system, different combat styles, and element-based combat.
9Monster Hunter Outlanders
Capcom’s Monster Hunter Universe With Gacha Mechanics
Developed by TiMi Studio, a Tencent subsidiary, and Capcom,Monster Hunter Outlandersis reported to be a fullyopen-world survival gamewith all the hallmarks one would expect from aMonster Huntertitle. Since its announcement, hype surrounding the title has only grown, though not much is currently known about it other than a few trailers.
It’s still unclear how, exactly, gacha mechanics will be implemented inMonster Hunter Outlanderswhile keeping the core identity of the franchise alive. Despite that, however, the downright gorgeous graphics, glider mechanics, and monster battles glimpsed in the gameplay videos have fans excited for what’s to come.
8Honor of Kings: World
MOBA Royalty Enters The Gacha Realm
Based on one of themost popular MOBA games of all time,Honor of Kings: Worldis an open-world co-op fantasy action RPG gacha. The title’s highly realistic art style and vibrant visuals immediately sparked interest among the community when the first trailer dropped, and the hype has only grown from there.
There is still some confusion among fans about whetherHonor of Kings: Worldwill be a gacha, an MMO, or a mix of the two, as the developers so far haven’t released any in-depth details about the title other than some trailers and a gameplay reveal, but fans are looking forward to it regardless.
7Chaos Zero Nightmare
Cosmic Horror Card Battler
Chaos Zero Nightmareis aturn-based card RPGin a grimdark setting with cosmic horror elements. It appears to be inspired byEpic Seven,Darkest Dungeon, and evenSlay the Spireto an extent. It’s unclear whetherCZNwill solely focus on PvE or rely on PvP to carry the endgame. All promotional works unveiled so far make no mention of PvP, which may dictate the direction the game takes in the future. For players looking to escape the endgame PvP grind ofE7while still enjoying the same gameplay loop, this may be their next destination.
Two game modes forChaos Zero Nightmarehave been revealed so far, one being a regular story mode with battles tied to the overarching storyline. The other is Chaos mode, a roguelike infinite battle mode where players can use power-ups gained through battle to not only increase their power level for the duration of the run, but carry over a small portion of that upgrade to the Story mode as well.
6Stellar Sora
A Combination of Princess Connect And Dragalia Lost
Stellar Sorais a top-down 3Daction roguelikegacha game with a cutesy art style and a surprising amount of depth in combat. Gameplay trailers and teaser videos forStellar Sorashowcase a 3-character party with one character as the damage dealer and two supporters. The game will also feature boss fights with raid mechanics and environmental hazards to spice up gameplay.
Stellar Soralooks to be a combination ofPrincess ConnectandDragalia Lost, with some even comparing it to the recently releasedBlue Archive. Closed Beta Tests for the title are underway, and pre-registration is open, though there are no specifics on the release date just yet.
5Duet Night Abyss
Fast-Paced Combat Without Stamina Management
Duet Night Abyssis an anime open-world RPG that has become a hotly anticipated title following its multiple Closed Beta Tests that showed promise. Combat inDuet Night Abysshas been described asWarframecombined withDynasty Warriors, with fast movement, hordes of enemies, multiple loadouts, and a complete absence of the stamina system present in most open-world gacha games.
Details about the gacha banner system inDuet Night Abyssalso appear to be encouraging. The character banners will feature a base drop rate of 0.6% for 5-star characters with 50/50 mechanics and a hard pity of 90. To make it a moreF2P-friendly gacha game, players will be guaranteed to win the 50/50 the first time they pull a new 5-star character. Additionally, the weapon banner will always drop the featured weapon without a 50/50. Best of all, there looks to be a weapon crafting system that extends to the exclusive banner weapons as well, giving players the option to obtain those weapons just by playing the game.
4Azur Promilia
Monster Taming In An Anime Open World
Azur Promiliacombines the tried-and-true anime open-world RPG formula withPokemon-style monster taming mechanics, base building, farming, and life simulation elements. Kibo, the creatures native to the world ofAzur Promilia, are crucial for combat, exploration, and setting up automatic farms similar to how it works inPalworld. The Kibo also have evolutionary lines, unique Tamagotchi-style interactions, and more to keep the gameplay loop interesting.
While Kibo do take part in combat, the main damage dealers will be the player-controlled characters, using a fast-paced combo-based system. Another big promiseAzur Promiliamakes is to minimize the grindy aspects to a large extent, by giving players the tools to automate gear production.Azur Lane, the previous project by the developers behindAzur Promilia, has been historically quite player-friendly, giving credence to the claims being made.
3Arknights: Endfield
From Tower Defense To Open World Goodness
Arknights: Endfieldwill almost definitely make a splash on the scene when it releases, thanks to its obvious ties toArknights, one of the most popular tower defense gacha games out there. It’s a third-person open-world ARPG, but a heavy focus onFactorio/Satisfactory-style base building. A scaled-up version of the Tower Defense mode from the originalArknightsalso makes an appearance, but isn’t the core focus of the game.
While similar to other gachas in a lot of ways,Arknights: Endfieldhas some unique quirks that have quite a few fans interested. In particular, the gear system promises to be something different from the typical RNG-based artifact gearing popular in gacha games.Arkfield: Endfield’s version of artifacts appears to only offer static upgrades. Visually, the game appears to be going for a slight de-animefication effect in an attempt to look more mature, while keeping some of the cel-shaded backbone open-world games in the gacha space have now come to be known for.
2Neverness to Everness
Anime Grand Theft Auto
Neverness to Evernessis a free-to-play supernatural urban open-world gacha game, developed by Hotta Studios, the team behindTower of Fantasy. From early looks and gameplay trailers, the game aims to mixGrand Theft Autowith anime-style combat and supernatural storylines in order to stand out from similar titles.
Neverness to Evernessappears to put as much emphasis on the story as it does on the combat and exploration, a feature that’s historically lacking in quite a few gacha games. Combat looks polished, utilizing the tried and true 4-member party formula with free switch-ins, abilities, and ultimates that have now become a staple in the industry.Neverness to Evernesshas gone through multiple Closed Beta Test rounds to resounding success. Impressions from these CBTs have been overwhelmingly positive, leading many to believe the title may very well be the next big thing in the gacha industry when it comes out.
1Ananta (Formerly Project Mugen)
Web-Slinging In Futuristic NYC
Ananta, previously calledProject Mugen, is perhaps the most anticipated gacha game sinceWuthering Waves. It’s set in something akin to a futuristic New York City withSpiderman-like web-slinging, GTA-style driving, and a host of colorful characters to reel players in. Concept-wise, the game shares quite a few similarities withNeverness to Everness, both titles going for the anime GTA with supernatural elements theme.
Announced back in 2023,Anantahas remained at the forefront of the conversation about upcoming gacha games since its announcement. Though the hype has died down a bit since then, the game still has a loyal audience eager for more news.
