NetEase's GTA-Like Worlds in Neverness to Everness and Ananta

Two upcoming games are positioning themselves as the next contenders in the gacha space, drawing inspiration from the structure of Grand Theft Auto. At Tokyo Game Show 2025, Hotta Studio’s Neverness to Everness and NetEase’s Ananta both featured playable demos, giving players a first look at how each game aims to approach the free-to-play open-world model.

At last time we mentioned about NetEase was in a post about a 10-year support of Marvel Rivals. So, about GTA-like games:

• Neverness to Everness
• Ananta

Neverness to Everness, announced in 2024, is Hotta’s attempt to merge MMO-style design with the formula of a modern urban open world. The developers, known for Tower of Fantasy, are carrying over some familiar mechanics while expanding into new ground. Players can explore a contemporary city setting filled with vehicles, hand-to-hand combat, and beat-em-up mechanics styled with anime influences. The game will feature a character gacha system, with the usual reliance on RNG pulls supplemented by a guarantee system after multiple attempts, a model familiar to fans of other titles in the genre.

Ananta, by contrast, is a debut project under the NetEase umbrella and sets itself apart with a major change in monetization. According to coverage from Famitsu, Ananta drops the character gacha format entirely. Instead, every playable character can be unlocked through gameplay, without needing to rely on random pulls. The game’s revenue will come from cosmetics, including clothing, vehicles, and housing items, reflecting the strategy that Rockstar has used with GTA Online. This allows players to focus on story-driven character roles—such as hackers, police officers, and delivery drivers—without worrying about spending on chance-based systems.

More about the new upcoming GTA Online early access is known from leaks about GTA 6 prices and three different editions.

Famitsu summarized the approach in simple terms:

“You can welcome all playable characters just by playing the game.” — Famitsu

This marks a clear departure from the revenue models that dominate mobile and free-to-play RPGs, where gacha mechanics often form the backbone of player spending. While this shift may be risky for NetEase, early community feedback has been positive, with excitement building around the chance to experience a full roster of characters without paywalls.

At TGS 2025, the proximity of the two demos drew attention. As pointed out by attendees online, both booths were placed close to each other, creating an unspoken rivalry between the two projects. Each game also arrived with new trailers to back up their showcase, with Ananta’s most recent video highlighting its urban sandbox approach, and Neverness to Everness showing gameplay footage dating back more than a year.

Both games remain in beta and pre-registration stages, with official release windows yet to be confirmed. For now, they present two contrasting strategies in the crowded free-to-play market. Neverness to Everness leans into established gacha mechanics to drive engagement, while Ananta bets on cosmetics and accessibility to stand out.

With Grand Theft Auto VI scheduled to launch in 2026, the timing of these projects is notable. Both titles are attempting to capture an audience interested in the freedom of modern open-world design while layering on monetization strategies that define today’s gacha and live-service markets. Whether Hotta’s traditional model or NetEase’s riskier cosmetic-only strategy proves more sustainable will likely be one of the bigger storylines in the coming year of mobile and cross-platform RPGs.