Varsapura has a longer development history than its November 2025 reveal suggests. The project went through a failed first attempt before being rebooted and eventually reaching the 31-minute demo that introduced it to the public.
Project SH (2020-2022)
miHoYo began working on an urban open-world game concept in 2020 under the internal codename PJSH (Project SH). The original vision was an open-world experience set in a real-world city with high-quality storytelling and new gameplay innovations. However, the team scaled up too ambitiously from the start, going against miHoYo's usual principle of building from the smallest possible prototype.
PJSH was disbanded at the end of 2022. The project had grown too large too quickly without establishing its core identity. This failure is notable because miHoYo rarely discusses canceled projects publicly.
Reboot (2023-present)
By the end of 2023, Cai Haoyu (miHoYo co-founder and Varsapura's producer) developed a clearer vision for the urban open-world concept. The team was reorganized and began building what would become Varsapura. The key difference from PJSH: starting smaller and iterating rather than scaling immediately.
Engine switch
Varsapura is miHoYo's first game built on Unreal Engine 5. All previous HoYoverse titles (Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero) use Unity. The UE5 switch enables the photorealistic rendering that defines Varsapura's visual identity. The 31-minute demo was captured on an NVIDIA RTX 4090.
Reveal (November 2025)
Varsapura was publicly revealed on November 20, 2025 with the 31-minute in-engine gameplay demonstration. The demo showed combat, stealth, driving, dialogue skill checks, and the City of Rain's open world. Reception was mixed-positive, with the world, combat, and narrative premise generating excitement while the character face models drew criticism for looking less polished than the environments.
Current status
As of early 2026, HoYoverse is actively recruiting in Shanghai and Singapore for the project. A hidden clue in the demo shows "2026.04.01" on SEAL application paperwork, which may hint at an April 2026 beta test or announcement. Based on HoYoverse's typical development cycle, analysts speculate a late 2027 or later release window.