{"rewrite":{"id":"r_9638abc6abf2d237dfbe5b9b","clusterId":"c_df28dfeb7fb4372305ad4f45","slug":"ananta-dev-says-each-city-has-100-hours-of-exploration","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"ANANTA Dev Says Each City Has 100 Hours Of Exploration","summary":"NetEase Games and developer Naked Rain will release the open-world urban RPG ANANTA on January 15, 2027, free-to-play on PC via Steam and the official site, PS5, iOS, and Android, with Japanese text and voice support planned. In an interview conducted at gamescom in Cologne, Germany, a NetEase representative said the game offers at least enough volume for 100 hours of exploration per city. Two cities have been revealed: Chongxiao, which draws inspiration from Shanghai and Hangzhou, and Shinsei, modeled on cities in the East Asian region. Players take the role of an ace investigator for the A.C.D. (Chaos Control Bureau), resolving problems caused by Chaos while living in the city. Characters are obtained for free as the story progresses, and cosmetic items are the paid element. The representative said a multiplayer mode is in development, with details to come later.","whyItMatters":"NetEase is pitching scale, not monetization, at a moment when the free-to-play open-world category usually leads with its character roster: the per-city hour figure is the selling point the developer chose to attach to a game it says will skip character gacha entirely.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe development team also addressed how ANANTA will make money. A NetEase representative said the game does not adopt the character gacha system common in the genre, because charging for a specific character would not treat all players fairly. Characters are earned through story progress, while cosmetic items such as outfits for a favorite character carry a price. The representative framed the choice as one that protects the freedom of the open-world setting.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTransportation spans cars, motorcycles, trucks, and helicopters, plus a wingsuit and flying cars shown in the Chongxiao preview. The player character cannot fly unaided. Chongxiao is the protagonist\u0026#39;s hometown, with childhood friends and local residents, and the story moves back and forth between the two cities, with returns to Chongxiao opening new developments. The representative said the gamescom demo covered the Chongxiao map and that the Shinsei map will be shown at Tokyo Game Show. Asked about the gap between the 2023 unveiling and the release date, the representative said the team often repeats that there is no magic in game development, and polishing takes time.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"ANANTA's 100 hours per city claim sits next to a free-to-play model where characters come free and cosmetics carry the revenue. The volume number is the pitch; the cosmetic economy is what has to hold players past the story.","twitterPost":"ANANTA's revenue comes from cosmetics while characters unlock through the story, so the 100 hours per city is the runway that keeps players around to buy them.","threadsPost":"ANANTA pairs 100 hours per city with a free-to-play model where characters unlock through the story and only cosmetics are paid. The exploration volume is what gives that cosmetic economy room to work, and Naked Rain has only shown two cities so far, Chongxiao and Shinsei.","newsletterBlurb":"NetEase's ANANTA has a date: January 15, 2027, free-to-play on PC, PS5, iOS and Android. In a gamescom interview, a NetEase representative said each of its two revealed cities holds at least 100 hours of exploration, and confirmed the game skips character gacha in favor of paid cosmetics.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/devlog/interview/20260914-467215/\",\"title\":\"Free-to-Play Open-World Game ANANTA Will Have \\\"100 Hours of Play Per City,\\\" Developer Says; We Asked In-Depth How You'll Play Its Vast Map\"},{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/20260914-467215/\",\"title\":\"Free-to-Play Open-World Game ANANTA Will Have \\\"100 Hours of Content Per City,\\\" Developer Says; We Asked in Detail How You'll Play Its Vast Map\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":9589,"outputTokens":1065,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1789367365,"createdAt":"2026-09-14T06:24:01.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-09-14T06:28:20.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-14T06:28:20.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_df28dfeb7fb4372305ad4f45","canonicalTitle":"基本プレイ無料オープンワールド『無限大ANANTA』開発者いわく、本作は「各都市100時間は遊べるボリューム」になる。広大マップを“どう遊べるのか”根掘り葉掘り訊いてみた","representativeArticleId":"a_0b0d9e902f7feea836e6cc01","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"ANANTA\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-14T03:09:48.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-14T03:09:48.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-14T06:28:20.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/devlog/interview/20260914-467215/","title":"基本プレイ無料オープンワールド『無限大ANANTA』開発者いわく、本作は「各都市100時間は遊べるボリューム」になる。広大マップを“どう遊べるのか”根掘り葉掘り訊いてみた"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["ANANTA"],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["NetEase Games will release ANANTA on January 15, 2027, free-to-play on PC (Steam and official website), PS5, iOS, and Android.","The open-world urban RPG ANANTA is developed by Naked Rain and was unveiled by NetEase Games in 2023.","A NetEase representative said ANANTA offers at least enough volume for 100 hours of exploration per city.","ANANTA's two revealed cities are Chongxiao, inspired by Shanghai and Hangzhou, and Shinsei, modeled on cities in the East Asian region.","A NetEase representative said ANANTA does not use a character gacha system, with characters obtained free through story progress and cosmetic items requiring payment."]}