“Anime GTA”: Ananta and Neverness to Everness, and how they compare with GTA 6

“Anime GTA” is the nickname for two Chinese open-world games set in modern cities: Neverness to Everness, released in April 2026, and Ananta, which NetEase launches on January 15, 2027, eight weeks after GTA 6. Both let you roam a big city on foot or by car and fill the day with side activities. Both are also free-to-play, full of superpowers, and about as far from Rockstar’s crime satire as a game with cars can get.

Why they get called “anime GTA”

Because of the city. Most anime open-world games, such as Genshin Impact, are fantasy worlds with swords and mountains. These two put you in a present-day metropolis with traffic, shops, apartments and pedestrians, and let you steal the spotlight in it. Ananta leaned into the comparison with its first full trailer in December 2024, which Eurogamer described as having “shades of GTA 6,” with Grand Theft Auto meets Spider-Man gameplay.

Ananta: release date and what it is

• Developer and publisher: Naked Rain, a NetEase studio. It was announced at Gamescom 2023 as Project Mugen and renamed in late 2024.
• Release: January 15, 2027, on PC, PS5, iOS and Android. There’s no Xbox version, so among consoles it’s PS5 only (Push Square).
• Cities: Nova City, styled after Tokyo, and Chongxiao, inspired by Hangzhou.
• Story: you’re the Captain of the Anti-Chaos Directorate, rebuilding a team that deals with paranormal “Chaos” in the city.

The list of things to do is long. According to PC Gamer, you can swing between skyscrapers like Spider-Man, drive, swim, sail, glide, sneak through missions Batman-style, race, date, go to the gym, watch TV, shop for clothes, furnish a home and carry cats around. It also has GTA 6-style character switching. PC Gamer’s preview from Tokyo Game Show 2025 called it a game that borrows a lot, from Arkham to Sleeping Dogs to Uncharted, but does many things acceptably well and made the writer laugh.

Ananta has no character gacha: everyone in the cast unlocks by playing. NetEase plans to sell cosmetics such as outfits, vehicles and homes, and hasn’t said whether those come from random draws. There’s no multiplayer at launch, though the team is looking at four-player co-op.

Neverness to Everness: already out

Neverness to Everness, or NTE, comes from Hotta Studio, the team behind Tower of Fantasy, and is published by Perfect World. You play an Appraiser who investigates supernatural anomalies in the city of Hethereau, with car customization and a business to run on the side. It launched in China on April 23 and worldwide on April 29, 2026, on PC, Mac, PS5, iOS and Android (Wikipedia).

The launch went well. Perfect World told shareholders that day one brought in more than 100 million yuan, about $14.6 million, with Japan and the US as the biggest markets and roughly 75% of revenue from PC and PS5 (Automaton). The publisher also said players spend more time exploring the city than fighting, which is about as GTA as a gacha game gets. Unlike Ananta, NTE does sell characters through gacha. In August its PS5 version stood at 73 on Metacritic, and the launch was marred by complaints about AI-generated art, which the studio said was limited to a few background elements.

How they differ from GTA 6

• Price and model: GTA 6 costs $79.99 and is a single-player game with a story that ends. The anime GTAs are free live-service games that keep adding content and sell extras.
• Tone: GTA 6 is a crime story about Jason and Lucia, rated M for Mature 17+ for violence, drugs and sex. In Ananta you work for an anti-chaos agency, and both games are stylized and comic rather than gritty.
• Powers: the anime games are built around superpowers, team fights and four-character parties. GTA 6 has guns, cars and two ordinary people.
• Platforms: both anime games run on phones. GTA 6 is PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only, with a PC version not yet announced.

Do they compete with GTA 6?

Not head-on. NTE came out more than six months before GTA 6, and Ananta arrives eight weeks after it (Push Square). They aim at people who want a free city to play in on a phone or alongside another game. GTA 6 aims at everyone with a PS5 or an Xbox. If you’re waiting for November 19, start with our GTA 6 release date guide and what changes compared with GTA 5.