ANANTA is one of the most-watched upcoming open-world action titles, and the comparison to Genshin Impact is unavoidable — both are large open worlds with character switching, gacha-style acquisition, and multi-platform releases. They are, however, very different games in tone and design. This page lays out what we actually know from first-party material, marks unknowns as unknowns, and helps you decide whether ANANTA is worth waiting for if you already play Genshin.
At a glance
| Dimension | ANANTA | Genshin Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Naked Rain (NetEase) | HoYoverse |
| Setting | Modern urban open world | Fantasy continent (Teyvat) |
| Tone | Grounded, near-future city life | High fantasy with elemental nations |
| Traversal | Vehicles, parkour, urban movement | Climbing, gliding, sprinting |
| Combat | Action with character switching | Action with elemental reactions |
| Platforms (planned) | PC, PS5, Android, iOS | PC, PS5, PS4, Android, iOS |
| Monetisation | Gacha (specifics TBA) | Gacha (limited & standard banners) |
| Release | TBA (pre-launch) | Live since September 2020 |
Setting and tone
The most immediate difference is where the game takes place. Genshin Impact is set in Teyvat, a high-fantasy continent split into elemental nations, each with its own architecture, mythology, and culture. ANANTA, by contrast, is set in a modern, near-future city, leaning into urban life, vehicles, civilian factions (police, delivery riders, hackers), and contemporary visual design.
If you prefer the colour palette and mythology of fantasy worlds, Genshin still has the deeper catalogue. If you want an open world that feels like it shares a timeline with the real world — phones, bikes, cyber-prosthetics, urban traversal — ANANTA is aiming at that gap directly.
Traversal
Traversal is where the two games diverge sharply.
- Genshin Impact built its early identity on stamina-driven climbing and gliding. You scale cliffs, glide off peaks, and use elemental skills to extend mobility.
- ANANTA has shown vehicles, urban parkour, and character-tied movement gimmicks in trailers. Taffy, for example, has a transforming delivery bike that doubles as her weapon — traversal is woven directly into character kits, not separated from combat.
This is a meaningful design philosophy difference: Genshin treats movement as a layer above combat; ANANTA appears to fuse them.
Combat
Both games feature action combat with character switching, but the systems read very differently from public footage.
| Element | ANANTA (public footage) | Genshin Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Switching | Party-based, character swap during combos | Party of 4, on-field/off-field rotation |
| Elemental system | TBA — not confirmed in trailers | Core mechanic: 7 elements + reactions |
| Weapon types | Varied per character (drones, cyber arms, bike, etc.) | 5 standard weapon types |
| Pacing | Fast, traversal-heavy from beta footage | Tactical, reaction-driven |
Characters and roster
Genshin has built up dozens of playable characters across five-plus years. ANANTA enters pre-launch with a smaller but already distinctive cast — characters carry strong civilian-role identities rather than nation-of-origin elemental tags:
- Captain — customisable player avatar, Special Task Force leader (male/female variants)
- Richie — police officer with cyber arms and an “arrest system”
- Seymour — hacker who deploys drones for tracking and infiltration
- Taffy — delivery rider with a transforming bike
See the full confirmed character list for everyone publicly named so far.
Platforms and crossplay
| Platform | ANANTA | Genshin |
|---|---|---|
| PC | Planned | ✅ Launcher + Epic |
| PS5 | Planned | ✅ |
| PS4 | Not announced | ✅ |
| Android | Planned | ✅ |
| iOS | Planned | ✅ |
| Xbox | Not announced | Not available |
| Switch | Not announced | Announced, undated |
| Crossplay | TBA | ✅ |
| Cross-save | TBA | ✅ (except some platform limits) |
Track ANANTA’s status on our crossplay & cross-save tracker and PS5 release info pages.
Monetisation
Both titles are gacha games at heart — characters and (likely) weapons are acquired through limited-time banners using premium currency, with free-to-play paths through in-game rewards.
What is not yet confirmed for ANANTA:
- Pity counters and soft/hard pity thresholds
- Banner rotation cadence (Genshin’s is a 3-week character banner cycle)
- Whether weapons share or have separate banners
- Welkin Moon / battle pass equivalents
See our gacha system explained page for the public footage we have so far, and assume everything specific to numbers will change before launch.
Is ANANTA worth waiting for if you play Genshin?
Honest take, given current evidence:
- Wait if — you want a modern urban open world, you enjoy traversal/combat fusion, you’ve drifted from Genshin’s fantasy framing, or you want to enter a gacha at day-one rather than 5 years behind.
- Don’t switch yet if — you’re deep into a Genshin account you love, you prefer high-fantasy worldbuilding, or you need launch-day polish (any new gacha will have early-month rough edges).
Neither game has to lose for the other to win. Many players will run both.
What to watch next
- Final ANANTA release window or date announcement.
- Closed/open beta phases — pre-register through our pre-registration guide.
- Elemental / reaction system confirmation (or absence).
- Monetisation specifics: pity rates, banner cadence, welkin equivalent.
We’ll update this comparison as new first-party material drops.