2025
May 4, 2025. First Teaser
Honkai: Nexus Anima was first teased during the Honkai: Star Rail LIVE Concert 2025 with a 20-second PV. The teaser showed Kiana and Blade together, immediately generating excitement from fans who recognized both characters. No gameplay was shown. Just enough to confirm the project existed and that it would bridge the Honkai series.
August 28, 2025. First Dynamic Video
The first animated video was released on HoYoverse's official video channel, one day before the full worldwide reveal.
August 29, 2025. Official Unveiling
The full worldwide reveal dropped on August 29, 2025. HoYoverse released the first gameplay trailer, a recruitment PV, and launched the official website. The trailer showed the auto-chess combat system, open-world exploration, Anima collection, and the seaside town of Iia. Recruitment for the "Nexus Bond Test" (closed beta) opened the same day.
September 17-23, 2025. Nexus Bond Test
The first closed beta ran for one week on PC and iOS only. Android was not included. Beta acceptance emails went out on September 15. The test gave players access to Iia, the auto-chess combat system, exploration, mini-games, and 66 Anima (32 fully revealed, 34 as silhouettes).
Beta Feedback
Coverage from beta participants described the game as a casual, relaxing experience that was rougher in execution than presentation. Specific criticisms included:
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Combat too simple | Early-game auto-chess encounters lacked strategic depth. Fights often resolved without meaningful decision-making |
Visual quality | 3D models, textures, and environments needed significant polish compared to other HoYoverse titles |
Quest system | Too text-heavy with insufficient variety in quest types. Players wanted more gameplay variety in story delivery |
Limited skin tones (only 3, all light-skinned), restricted clothing options, female-only protagonist during beta | |
Performance | Optimization issues on lower-tier hardware |
Post-Beta DevTalk
After the beta concluded, the development team posted a DevTalk acknowledging player feedback. It described the game as still in early development and said: "The current version is still a long way from our ultimate vision and the game we want to present." The post did not give a release window.
Specific improvements mentioned in the DevTalk:
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Visuals | Better 3D models, textures, rendering, and lighting. New architectural styles and expanded regions |
Expanded abilities and town interactions for Anima companions | |
Combat | Reworked Kardia combat models and skills. Improved character animations and expressions |
Content | Overhaul of the Infinite Vortex mode with branching choices and replayable checkpoints. New questlines tied to Nexus Association and Nexus Syndicate factions |
Platforms | Android version in active development |
Performance | Optimization for lower-tier hardware |
Localization | More accurate translations and broader language support |
Customization | Expanded clothing, accessories, and other options for the protagonist |
Production Team
David Jiang has been reported as the game's producer, though no official credit confirming it has been published.
Soundtrack
Music for Honkai: Nexus Anima is composed by HOYO-MiX, HoYoverse's in-house music studio. HOYO-MiX is responsible for the soundtracks across all HoYoverse titles, including Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.
Release Outlook
As of October 2026, no launch window had been announced on the official site, HoYoLAB, or the HoYoPlay listing. The scope of the improvements outlined suggests the team is prioritizing quality over speed.
Confirmed platforms are PC, iOS, and Android. Android was absent from the first beta but has shipped in both tests since, so all three are established. On PC the game is distributed through HoYoPlay, HoYoverse's own launcher, where pre-registration opened on September 4, 2026; no third-party PC store had been announced as of October 2026. Console versions had not been announced as of October 2026.
2026 Development Phases
Following the September 2025 Nexus Bond Test, the project moved into a structured DevTalk cadence. Three named phases have been published:
Milestone | Date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
DevTalk Phase I | December 2025 | Visual and model refresh for Parayaya (eye detail, hair texture, clothing, and accessories), with other character designs, Anima designs, and environments still in progress. Character pages on the official website were taken down temporarily during this work. |
DevTalk Phase II | February 2026 | Reveal of new Anima Fyrklor and Hoggit, plus environment polish and a tease of an unnamed skyscraper district inside Iia. |
DevTalk Phase III | April 2026 | Confirmation of three new Iia districts (Kakatini Grand Hotel, Pedestrian Street, Fleming Tower), the opening of English-language recruitment for the Aspect Exploration Project confidential test (its second recruitment phase in China, after a first phase opened in February 2026), and combat-improvement framing focused on bigger and tougher enemy encounters. |
The Aspect Exploration Project widens platform coverage to PC, iOS, and Android, but tightens secrecy with a mandatory NDA and no fixed recruitment deadline. This shift signals a move from broad public-facing testing to focused design feedback ahead of release.
June 22, 2026. Evolution Test Announced
HoYoverse opened recruitment for the Evolution Test, the third closed beta, on June 22, 2026, with the test set to start July 9, 2026 on PC, iOS, and Android. The build is named after its headline feature, Anima Evolution, and also introduces Chromatic Anima, a character assist layer with commander skills, redesigned Iia districts, and open-world activities such as Anima riding, racing, and concerts. The test is free, wipes all data, is open to players 18 and over, and lifts the sharing restrictions that applied to the earlier Aspect Exploration Project.
The game received its Chinese publishing license on September 24, 2025, and by the time Evolution Test recruitment opened, pre-registrations had passed 5.5 million across all platforms. HoYoverse's corporate description lists offices in Singapore, Montreal, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, and other areas; that list covers the company as a whole rather than this game's team specifically.
Public Showings
With the Evolution Test running, HoYoverse announced the game's first two public appearances. It appeared at HoYo FEST 2026 across Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore from 30 July to 2 August 2026, with an on-site playable session for visitors who collected a queue card from the experience zone. It then made its gamescom debut in Cologne from August 26 to 30, 2026, where the HoYoverse exhibition area in Hall 6.1, Booth B030 at Koelnmesse hosted a hands-on demo in the Trial Play Area covering Anima collecting, world exploration, and Nexus Battles beside a giant Umpurrella installation. Hands-on sessions ran for roughly an hour, and no release date or platform news was announced at the show.
These are the first hands-on opportunities outside a closed beta, and they move the game from invitation-only testing toward general public exposure.
July 27, 2026. Evolution Test Wrap-Up
The Evolution Test ended on schedule at 18:00 (UTC+8) on July 27, 2026, and the team published a DevTalk recap the same day. The recap previewed the next round of work: story moments woven into the Anima bonding process and tuned Skein bonding rates, faster and more responsive character movement, a refined opening story, combat with more stage variety and more synergy between characters and Anima (including adjustable Anima dispositions), and continued performance and device-compatibility optimization. It closed by telling players to expect more Anima in the world at the next test.
September 2026. Pre-Registration and a Third Aspect Exploration Phase
On September 4, 2026, HoYoverse opened pre-registration for the PC version on HoYoPlay, its own launcher: players open the All Games page, select the game, click Pre-Register Now, log in with a HoYoverse account, and can enable automatic download when the game launches. The launcher listing describes the game as the latest monster-collecting open-world tactical game from the Honkai series. Pre-registration on the miHoYo Launcher opened the same day for mainland China. Neither announcement gave a release date.
On September 17, 2026, the Chinese community site announced a third recruitment phase for the Aspect Exploration Project, described as a long-term, small-scale confidential test on PC, iOS, and Android with a non-disclosure agreement, no fixed deadline, and a full data wipe. As of October 14, 2026, no English-language announcement of the third phase had been published on HoYoLAB.