Timeline
Lord of Mysteries has been in development at SPARK NEXA since the studio's founding in 2021. Public-facing milestones to date:
September 2021: Studio Founded
Xu Jie (徐杰) founds SPARK NEXA / 弹指宇宙 inside Kuaishou Technology. The studio's first announced goal is to build long-cycle PC and mobile titles with AAA production values, and Lord of Mysteries becomes its flagship project. From a few core members at the start, the team has grown to around six hundred people over roughly four years of development. An earlier 2025 snapshot put the team near 500; the current mid-2026 figure is around 600.
February 3, 2023: Codename Revealed
China Literature Group publicly announces a Lord of Mysteries game adaptation under the working title Code:Mystery, developed by SPARK NEXA. The license is brokered through China Literature's IP-licensing arm and signed off by author Cuttlefish That Loves Diving.
March 14, 2024: 'Tingen's Old Dream' Trailer
First public gameplay reveal. The 'Tingen's Old Dream' (廷根旧梦) cinematic-and-gameplay video shows the city of Tingen under gas-lit fog, an early Beyonder Acting Method ritual, and a Seer-pathway potion-drinking sequence rendered in Unreal Engine 5. The trailer confirms the open-world MMORPG framing and the Sequence 9 entry rank.
September 2024: Tokyo Game Show 2024
SPARK NEXA shows Lord of Mysteries at Tokyo Game Show 2024, the game's first international demo appearance. The booth runs guided sessions of an early Tingen build and a stage panel discussing the Acting Method and the Pathway system.
Throughout 2025: Internal Alpha
Multiple internal alpha rounds with Kuaishou employees and a small invited tester pool. Public-facing trailers continue to drop quarterly, including a Backlund preview ('Imperial Backlund' / 帝都贝克兰德) and a combat-focused video showing card-throwing Seer abilities and Spectator hypnosis encounters.
September 2025: SPARK NEXA's official EN account posts an in-character tribute to Dunn Smith ('Captain of the Tingen Nighthawks. Fearless warrior against unseen dangers. A silent guardian until the very end. Sleep well, Dunn Smith.'), confirming the canonical character is in the game and signalling that his canonical fate is preserved in the campaign.
January 14, 2026: 'Tingen' Promo on WeChat
Official 'Tingen' promotional video posted to the studio's WeChat channel, signalling that a public closed beta is imminent.
January 15, 2026: Crimson Test Sign-Ups Open
Crimson Test recruitment opens online at 09:30 China Standard Time. Sign-ups close on February 1, 2026. The sign-up portal introduces an in-game host character named Susie who walks players through the recruitment survey.
February 5, 2026: Crimson Test Goes Live
The first closed beta launches on PC for selected Mainland China testers. Six of the 22 Pathways are playable: Seer, Apprentice, Spectator, Warrior, Bard, and Mystery Pryer. The test runs for roughly two and a half weeks before concluding ahead of Chinese New Year (February 17). Beta tester reports surface during and after the test, including confirmation of the Mr. Fool grafting mechanic, holy-trinity dungeon composition, and PvP scaling targets.
Spring and Summer 2026: Iterative Betas
Subsequent CN closed beta phases planned, expected to expand the Pathway roster (Assassin and Hunter Pathways are the most-anticipated additions), extend the Sequence cap beyond Sequence 7, and stress-test raid-scale group content. The first global (English-supported) closed beta is signposted for late summer or autumn 2026.
June 26, 2026: Gray Fog Test
The Gray Fog Test begins, with recruitment having opened on May 22, 2026 (both the recruitment close and the test end to be announced separately). It is the game's first test to open to all three platforms at once, with PC, iOS, and Android players testing together, after the PC-only Crimson Test. It is a limited paid deletion test in which payment functions are enabled and all data is wiped afterward, and players apply by filling out a recruitment questionnaire. A new promotional video was released alongside the recruitment.
Q4 2026: Target Launch
Full launch targeted for late 2026 across PC, iOS, and Android. See Release and Platforms for the launch matrix in detail.