Nodusfall, the next game from Genshin Impact maker and gacha kingpin Hoyoverse (or MiHoYo), was one of the biggest surprises at the 2026 Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase. Commenting on the game, CEO Liu Wei, known to many fans as Da Wei, agrees Nodusfall is very different from the company’s usual releases.

In a Chinese statement circulating online (with slightly varying translations backed up by Google image translate), Wei describes Nodusfall as miHoYo’s first realistic fantasy online game, and one with large-scale boss battles and co-op.

According to Wei’s translated statement, Nodusfall seems to take heavy inspiration from the Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas, which the Academy of Chinese Studies calls “a testament to ancient Chinese myths and geographical lore.”

However, on the Nodusfall website, Hoyoverse confirms it features a “sweeping original story.” A press release from Hoyoverse also confirms that it’s a “multi-mythology” game “inspired by the world’s diverse mythological traditions.”

Nodusfall is “very un-miHoYo,” Wei says, which is one reason that its development process – which has seemingly gone on for many years, based on previous job listings from the company and the many rumors orbiting it – has been so difficult.

Increasingly, this looks like Hoyoverse’s take on Capcom’s Monster Hunter. “Players will form a squad with their companions to face off against massive beasts and creatures that once existed only in myth,” the Nodusfall website reads.

“Players can customize their characters with different combat styles and skill combinations,” it adds. Additionally, “defeating these powerful creatures rewards players with valuable resources and unlocks new skills and weapons, further advancing their builds and expanding endless tactical possibilities.”

This sounds good on paper, and Nodusfall’s realistic aesthetic looks good in motion so far. The problem for many people is that this is a Hoyoverse game and must thus escape the grip of gacha. Monetization, and how it bleeds into those progression and reward systems, could be a real problem for Nodusfall and some would-be players.

However unlikely it is, the best possible outcome is probably Nodusfall dropping the gacha guff entirely. I’m well-versed in Hoyo’s monetization strategy at this point, and there’s really no arguing with the toxicity of it. And I say that after enjoying Honkai: Star Rail for several months, loving Zenless Zone Zero for about a year, and playing Genshin Impact almost every day for nearly six years now. Last night I was optimizing a team in Genshin, but that game is fun despite its gacha crap.

I’ve also been playing Monster Hunter since the Nintendo DS days, and I’m telling you right now that this genre wouldn’t play nice with Genshin-style gacha. Ironically, Monster Hunter Outlanders, Capcom and Timi Studio’s very own gacha-flavored spinoff, was also present at Gamescom and has already demonstrated how monetization can cannibalize gameplay in this space. If we’re lucky, Nodusfall’s “un-miHoYo” approach will amount to less gacha, not just a break from anime art.

Everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026.