- Free-to-play open-world journey Ananta will characteristic two large maps
- The second, Chongxiao, was revealed in a trailer at Gamescom 2026
- It is impressed by the real-world cities Shanghai and Hangzhou, residence of the sport’s builders
Upcoming free-to-play Grand Theft Auto 6 competitor Ananta bought a brand new trailer at Gamescom 2026, revealing a second large open-world map.
Gamers will have the ability to enterprise from the coastal Nova Metropolis to the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Chongxiao, with producer Ash Qi promising “dozens of hours of story content material and an enormous vary of city gameplay” in a brand new interview with TechRadar Gaming.
“Nova Metropolis was the primary map we created,” they mentioned. “Chongxiao is one thing we knew we needed to make a few 12 months into creating Nova Metropolis. By way of scale, Chongxiao is sort of a bit greater than Nova Metropolis, however every map has its personal identification, with totally different tales and a definite environment.
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“Nova Metropolis leans extra into a contemporary, entertainment-driven vibe, with a livelier, often chaotic power. Chongxiao, alternatively, has extra superior expertise, richer cultural content material, and large-scale vacationer sights for gamers to expertise and discover.”
In addition to conveying distinct atmospheres, each cities are additionally dramatically totally different from an aesthetic perspective. Nova Metropolis seems to be virtually like a mix of Tokyo and Los Angeles, whereas Chongxiao is decidedly extra Chinese language in its influences.
“Proper now we’re constructing Lingyun, a metropolis inside Chongxiao. The inspiration behind Lingyun truly comes from Shanghai and Hangzhou, the place our staff lives and works. Each cities have very placing on a regular basis surroundings and iconic trendy landmarks,” defined Qi. “Our aim was to have the true cities as a basis and layer Ananta’s setting on high of it.”
Loads of real-world options from each these locations have been on present within the newest trailer, together with a skyscraper that is virtually an identical to Shanghai’s iconic Oriental Pearl Tower. Chongxiao can be constructed round an enormous historical physique of water often called the Weilan Lake, modelled intently on the well-known West Lake in Hangzhou — a UNESCO World Heritage Web site featured on the again of China’s one-yuan banknote.
(Picture credit score: Netease Video games)
“After all, we’re not simply recreating these locations one-to-one,” added Qi. “We’re giving them new settings and memorable adventures formed by our IP and story wants.”
Ananta has already made headlines with its dizzying vary of mechanics, with trailers displaying off driving, melee fight, third-person taking pictures, flying wingsuits, and even Spider-Man-like web-slinging. However the cities themselves will even supply a broad number of distinctive actions.
“Something you’d need to do in a contemporary metropolis: buying, grabbing a chunk at a restaurant, catching a stay music present, or dancing the evening away, it’s all there,” mentioned Qi. “You possibly can even invite your favourite character to do these items with you. Every metropolis additionally affords its personal distinct actions primarily based on what makes it distinctive. In Chongxiao, for instance, you’ll be able to go boating to expertise Weilan Lake.”
It appears like gamers can have no scarcity of issues to do when Ananta launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and cell on January 15, 2027.
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