- Not gacha for characters: Nodusfall, Ananta, Aniimo and DragonSword: Awakening. Gacha: Silver Palace, hololive Dreams and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit. Not announced yet: Petit Planet and Astrae Oratio
- MiniMuse isn't a banner gacha. It's a character creator in the Gacha Life-style dress-up genre, with ads and in-app purchases
- No gacha doesn't mean no spending. Shops, battle passes and monthly passes have fixed prices, but they repeat
- Gacha costs are open-ended. Before you pull, price the worst case: pity pulls times the cost of one pull
- Set a monthly limit in money before you pre-register, not when the launch bundles appear
“Is it a gacha game?” is one of the most common searches around any new anime-style game right now. In the last three months, Google Trends shows searches like “is Nodusfall a gacha game”, “is Aniimo a gacha game” and “MiniMuse gacha” climbing by hundreds or thousands of percent.
The question is really about money. A gacha game sells random draws, so the cost of getting what you want is a range, not a price. A game without gacha still sells things, but you can see the price before you pay. We checked 10 new and upcoming games against official sources and established outlets as of October 23, 2026, and sorted them by what each model means for your budget.
Hunter Vault is not affiliated with HoYoverse, NetEase Games, Pawprint Studio, Hound13, Elementa, QualiArts, COVER, KLab, NC, Studio Sirenia or any other company named here. Game names belong to their owners. Every claim links to its source below.
Business models for unreleased games can change before launch. Aniimo’s final beta had a gacha-like event that was gone by launch day. Treat every “not gacha” promise as a statement of intent, and check the shop and the in-game rates screen when the game is out.
Quick Answer: Which New Games Are Gacha?
As of October 23, 2026, Silver Palace, hololive Dreams and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit use paid random draws for characters. Nodusfall, Ananta and Aniimo don’t, though all three are free-to-play and sell other things. DragonSword: Awakening is a one-time $29.99 purchase. Petit Planet and Astrae Oratio haven’t announced a business model. MiniMuse is a dress-up character creator, not a banner gacha.
All 10 Games at a Glance
| Game (made by) | Status, Oct 23, 2026 | Characters from paid random draws? | Where the money goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nodusfall (HoYoverse) | Announced Aug 2026, pre-registration open, no date or platforms | No | Cosmetics “considered”, model not final |
| Ananta (Naked Rain / NetEase Games) | Launches Jan 15, 2027 on PC, PS5, iOS, Android | No | Mainly character skins |
| Aniimo (Pawprint Studio) | Out since Sep 15, 2026 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, Android | No | Cosmetic shop, bundles, battle pass, monthly pass |
| DragonSword: Awakening (Hound13) | Out since Jul 23, 2026 on PC (Steam) | No | $29.99 once ($49.99 Deluxe), optional DLC |
| Silver Palace (Silver Studio / Elementa) | Beta tests in 2026, no release date; PC, iOS, Android | Yes | Gacha banners, rates not published |
| hololive Dreams (QualiArts / COVER) | Out since Jul 23, 2026 on iOS, Android, Steam | Yes | Banners paid with Blue Diamonds |
| JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit (KLab, Wanda Cinemas Games) | Out since Aug 13, 2026 on iOS, Android (not in Japan) | Yes | Recruitment banners |
| Petit Planet (HoYoverse) | “Winter” 2026 on PC, iOS, Android | Not announced | Not announced |
| Astrae Oratio (Dynamis One / NC) | iOS and Android in 2027, PC after | Not announced | Not announced |
| MiniMuse (Studio Sirenia) | Out on iOS and Android | No (none in its listings) | Ads, in-app purchases |
What Each Model Means for Your Wallet
There are four ways these games charge you. Most free-to-play games use more than one.
- Paid random draws (gacha). You pay for a chance. The cost of one specific character is a range, from one lucky pull to the pity limit. Your real worst case is pity pulls times the price of one pull. Our gacha pity calculator does that sum for you.
- Fixed-price shop. Outfits, bundles and boosts with a price tag. You know the cost before you buy. The risk is volume: limited-time items and a new bundle every update.
- Recurring passes. Battle passes and monthly passes are small, predictable charges that come back every season or month. For example, a $4.99 monthly pass bought every month costs $59.88 a year before you add a battle pass. Treat passes like subscriptions.
- One-time purchase. You pay the box price once. Optional DLC is the only extra.
A game can drop gacha and still cost you more per year than a gacha game you play lightly. The model tells you what kind of spending to watch, not how much you’ll spend.
Not Gacha for Characters
Nodusfall (HoYoverse)
HoYoverse revealed Nodusfall, a dark-fantasy co-op action game, at Gamescom Opening Night Live in August 2026. The developers told PC Gamer that it “will be a free-to-play, long-term game,” that “characters are not obtained through random draws,” and that “cosmetic monetization is an important avenue we will be considering.”
Platforms and a release date haven’t been announced. Pre-registration is open on the official site.
Wallet read: promising but unfinished. “Considering” isn’t a final shop, and the statement covers characters, not every system. Expect cosmetics, and check for random draws anywhere else once it launches.
Ananta (Naked Rain / NetEase Games)
Ananta is a free-to-play urban open-world RPG. Its Steam page lists January 15, 2027, and it’s coming to PC, PS5, iOS and Android. The team told TechRadar it does “not plan to implement character gacha mechanics” and that “monetization will primarily focus on character skins.”
One open question: PC Gamer’s guide notes it isn’t confirmed whether those cosmetics are sold outright or through their own random draws.
Wallet read: characters cost nothing but time. Skins are where the money goes, so set a cosmetics budget before launch.
Aniimo (Pawprint Studio)
Aniimo is a free-to-play creature-catching open-world RPG. It launched on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in mid-September 2026. Steam lists September 15, and iOS and Android followed later that month. PC Gamer puts it plainly: “No, Aniimo is not a gacha game.” There are no banners. You catch creatures in the open world, hatch them from eggs, or earn them from events and the battle pass.
It still sells plenty:
- A cosmetic shop, paid in Lumin Crystals bought with real money
- Shop bundles that include guaranteed rare versions of creatures and stat changes
- The Companion Handbook battle pass, with a free track and two premium tracks
- A Monthly Pass that pays out premium currency daily, per All Things How
Aniimo’s final beta had a Rift Exploration event where you spent premium currency for a small chance at a Legendary creature, which worked like a banner with pity. At launch it was replaced with a token-collection system.
Wallet read: fixed prices, but four places to spend. The battle pass and monthly pass are the recurring charges to watch.
DragonSword: Awakening (Hound13)
DragonSword: Awakening is the one game here with no free-to-play model at all. It started life as an online game, and Hound13 rebuilt it as a one-time Steam purchase before its July 23, 2026 launch. The studio’s Steam announcements give the details. Its July 2026 FAQ puts the base price at $29.99. A June 2026 Q&A listed the Deluxe Edition at $49.99 and said that, aside from costume and familiar DLC, “there are no separate in-game microtransactions.” Recent DLC costs $3.99 to $7.99 each.
Wallet read: the most predictable cost here. Total it once: box price plus any DLC you actually want.
Gacha
Silver Palace (Silver Studio / Elementa)
Silver Palace is a free-to-play open-world action RPG with gacha, set in a Victorian-style city. It’s coming to PC, iOS and Android, and Console Creatures reports console versions are in the works. Game8’s tracker lists the Monotype beta (January 13–18, 2026) and the Dichotomy beta (July 23–August 13, 2026), and no release date.
Official pull rates and pity haven’t been published. Numbers from the betas are unofficial and may change.
Wallet read: open-ended costs. Don’t plan around beta numbers. Wait for the official rates screen, then price the worst case.
hololive Dreams (QualiArts / COVER)
hololive Dreams, the first official hololive smartphone game, launched worldwide on July 23, 2026 (JST) on iOS, Android and Steam. CyberAgent’s press release lists it as “Free-to-play (In-app purchases available).” Characters come from gacha banners. Sportskeeda describes a limited-time Running Start banner that guarantees a 5-star character in one 10-pull, paid only in Blue Diamonds, the premium currency you buy with real money.
Wallet read: classic gacha, plus fan loyalty, which makes “just one more pull” easy. Pick a monthly limit before a favorite member’s banner arrives.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit (KLab, Wanda Cinemas Games)
Golden Spirit is a strategy RPG developed by Hoolai and published by KLab Games and Wanda Cinemas Games. It launched worldwide outside Japan on August 13, 2026, on iOS and Android, and is free to download on the App Store. Characters come from recruitment banners. Notebookcheck reports a guaranteed beginner SSR within the first 30 pulls, a guaranteed random SSR at 60 pulls on standard pools, and an SSR selection token at 180 pulls.
Wallet read: the 180-pull selector is your worst case for a specific standard character. Multiply it by the cost of one pull before you chase anyone.
Not Announced Yet
Petit Planet (HoYoverse)
Petit Planet is a cozy life sim where you build up your own small planet. HoYoverse confirmed at Gamescom 2026 that it launches globally this winter on PC, iOS and Android, with cross-platform progression (Inven Global). Pre-registration is open on the App Store, Google Play and the Epic Games Store. The App Store pre-order page currently shows an expected date of December 31, 2026. HoYoverse itself only says “winter.”
HoYoverse hasn’t announced how Petit Planet will make money. Claims about its shop come from beta testers, not from the developer.
Astrae Oratio (Dynamis One / NC)
Astrae Oratio is an urban-fantasy RPG developed by Dynamis One and NC (formerly NCSOFT, also the publisher of AION 2). It’s due on iOS and Android in 2027, with a PC version after that (GosuGamers). Its business model hasn’t been announced. Speculation that it will have gacha is just speculation until NC says so.
Wallet read for both: no model, no budget plan yet. Pre-register for the free rewards if you like, but decide your limit before launch, not after you see the shop.
Is MiniMuse a Gacha Game?
Not in the banner sense, and the confusion comes from the name. MiniMuse, listed as “MiniMuses” on the App Store, is a character creator from Studio Sirenia. You design characters from a wardrobe of over 1,500 assets, then stage scenes in Studio Mode. Players call this dress-up genre “gacha” after Lunime’s Gacha Life and Gacha Club, which is why so many searches read “MiniMuse gacha.”
Its store listings describe no random pulls. The Google Play listing says it contains ads and in-app purchases. The iOS version launched September 7, 2026.
Wallet read: small, optional purchases. If paid random packs ever appear inside, treat them like any gacha.
“No Gacha” Doesn’t Mean “No Spending”
Three of the four non-gacha games here are free-to-play live-service games. They have to earn money somehow, and they do it with shops and passes. That’s not a bad deal. Fixed prices are far easier to budget than random draws. But they add up differently:
- Shops feel cheap per item. The total grows with every update’s new outfit.
- Passes renew quietly. A battle pass every season plus a monthly pass is a subscription in all but name. Here’s how to judge whether a pass is worth it.
- Bundles mix in convenience. Aniimo’s bundles include guaranteed rare variants. That’s a fixed price for something other players grind for, so the pull to buy is the same.
For the wider pattern, see the hidden cost of free-to-play games. If you’re comparing an MMO’s box price with a free game’s shop, our buy-to-play vs free-to-play cost breakdown runs the first-year numbers.
Before You Pre-Register: A Spending-Limit Checklist
Pre-registration is the cheapest moment to make a decision. Nothing is on sale yet, and the launch bundles haven’t appeared.
- Find the model in an official source. That means a developer statement, the store listing or the in-game rates screen. Apple’s App Review Guidelines (3.1.1) require games that sell random items to disclose the odds before purchase.
- Pick a monthly amount in money. Choose it from what’s left after bills and savings, and only an amount you’re fine spending on fun.
- Decide your launch-week rule now. For example, no purchases for the first two weeks. Launch bundles are designed to feel urgent.
- If it’s gacha, price the worst case. Pity pulls times the cost of one pull, at the pack you’d actually buy. The gacha pity calculator does the maths.
- If it has passes, count them as recurring. Add each pass to your budget as a monthly or per-season cost, not a one-off.
- Turn on purchase protection. Require your password for every App Store or Google Play purchase, or set a console spending limit.
- Log every top-up when it happens. Then check the total after 30 days with the gacha spending calculator.
Already over your limit in a game you play now? Our guide on how to stop overspending on gacha games starts there. And if you’re choosing between live gacha games, the F2P-friendly gacha tier list scores nine of them on pity, carryover and PvP rules.
If pulling ever feels out of your control, you chase losses, or it’s affecting bills or relationships, that’s bigger than a budgeting problem. Gacha shares mechanics with gambling, and that’s not a personal failing. Talking to someone you trust, or a free and confidential gambling support line in your region, is a reasonable step.
Where Hunter Vault Fits
Hunter Vault is our own app, so weigh this with that in mind. It’s a manual budgeting app with an RPG layer of quests, XP and ranks, on iOS and Android. It never connects to a bank or to any game account. You log each purchase yourself, in real money.
For a new game, that can be one budget category per game on the free plan (up to 8), or, with Hunter Elite (a $15.99 one-time purchase), one “Games” budget with a subcategory per game. Battle passes and monthly passes fit recurring transactions. If you’re saving for a launch or a banner, a savings goal tracks a target, a deadline and a monthly contribution. Budgeting never requires a subscription. There’s more on this setup on our gacha players page.
Get it on the App Store or Google Play.
Final Takeaway
“Is it a gacha game?” is a good question to ask before you download, because the answer tells you what kind of spending to watch. Silver Palace, hololive Dreams and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit sell random draws, so price the worst case first. Nodusfall, Ananta and Aniimo don’t sell characters through draws, but their shops and passes still need a limit. DragonSword: Awakening is the simplest: pay once. For Petit Planet and Astrae Oratio, wait for an official answer.
Whatever you play next, set the limit while the game is still on your wishlist.
Sources
- Nodusfall developer statement (PC Gamer, Fraser Brown, August 26, 2026): https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hoyoverses-nodusfall-is-free-to-play-but-isnt-a-typical-gacha-game-characters-are-not-obtained-through-random-draws/
- Nodusfall official site and pre-registration (HoYoverse, checked October 23, 2026): https://nodusfall.hoyoverse.com/en-us/home
- Ananta developer interview (TechRadar, Dashiell Wood, December 3, 2025): https://www.techradar.com/gaming/ananta-developer-interview
- Ananta guide (PC Gamer, Jessica Orr, August 28, 2026): https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ananta-guide/
- ANANTA on Steam (NetEase Games, checked October 23, 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4814120/ANANTA/
- Is Aniimo a gacha game? (PC Gamer, Jessica Orr, September 16, 2026): https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/aniimo-is-it-gacha-monetization-explained/
- Aniimo on Steam (Pawprint Studio, checked October 23, 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4126040/Aniimo/
- Aniimo monetization explainer (All Things How, updated September 15, 2026): https://allthings.how/is-aniimo-a-gacha-game-how-its-monetization-works/
- DragonSword: Awakening on Steam (Hound13, checked October 23, 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4570720/
- DragonSword: Awakening announcements, including the June 19, 2026 roadmap Q&A, the July 23, 2026 launch post, the July 28, 2026 FAQ and DLC pricing posts (Hound13, Steam): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4570720
- Silver Palace gameplay trailer report (Console Creatures, January 8, 2026): https://www.consolecreatures.com/silver-palace-releases-gameplay-trailer/
- Silver Palace release and beta tracker (Game8, updated August 26, 2026): https://game8.co/articles/games/silver-palace
- hololive Dreams launch press release (CyberAgent, July 3, 2026): https://www.cyberagent.co.jp/en/news/detail/id=33532
- hololive Dreams gacha system explained (Sportskeeda, July 23, 2026): https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/hololive-dreams-gacha-system-explained
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit SSR Jotaro banner (Notebookcheck, August 21, 2026, updated October 5, 2026): https://www.notebookcheck.net/JoJo-s-Bizarre-Adventure-Golden-Spirit-adds-SSR-Jotaro-banner.1374711.0.html
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: GS on the App Store (Hoolai Game, checked October 23, 2026): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jojos-bizarre-adventure-gs/id6757908157
- Petit Planet winter launch announcement (Inven Global, August 25, 2026): https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/25141/hoyoverse-announces-winter-global-release-for-new-title-petit-planet-at-onl
- Astrae Oratio PC release after 2027 mobile launch (GosuGamers, September 17, 2026): https://www.gosugamers.net/entertainment/news/79193-urban-fantasy-rpg-astrae-oratio-confirms-pc-release-after-2027-mobile-launch
- MiniMuses on the App Store and MiniMuse on Google Play (Studio Sirenia, checked October 23, 2026): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/minimuses/id6798905825 and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.studiosirenia.minimuse
- App Review Guidelines, 3.1.1 (Apple): https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/
This is general educational content, not financial advice. Business models, prices and release dates change, especially before launch, so check the official store page and in-game rates before you spend, and choose a budget that fits your income and responsibilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nodusfall a gacha game?
Not for characters. HoYoverse told PC Gamer in August 2026 that Nodusfall will be free-to-play and that "characters are not obtained through random draws," with cosmetic monetization "an important avenue we will be considering." Platforms, a release date and the full business model haven't been announced as of October 23, 2026.
Is Ananta a gacha game?
Not for characters. Developer Naked Rain told TechRadar it does "not plan to implement character gacha mechanics" and that monetization "will primarily focus on character skins." Ananta is free-to-play and launches January 15, 2027 on PC, PS5, iOS and Android. It isn't confirmed yet whether its cosmetics are sold outright or through random draws.
Is Aniimo a gacha game?
No. Aniimo launched in September 2026 without banners: you catch or hatch creatures by playing. It makes money from a cosmetic shop, shop bundles, a battle pass with two premium tracks and a monthly pass. Its final beta had a gacha-like Rift Exploration event, which was replaced with a token system at launch.
Is MiniMuse a gacha game?
Not in the banner sense. MiniMuse (listed as MiniMuses on the App Store) is a free character creator from Studio Sirenia, in the dress-up genre players call "gacha" after Gacha Life and Gacha Club. Its store listings describe no random pulls. The Google Play listing says it contains ads and in-app purchases.
Is Petit Planet a gacha game?
HoYoverse hasn't announced how Petit Planet will make money as of October 23, 2026. It's a life sim coming to PC, iOS and Android in winter 2026. Wait for the launch shop and the in-game rates screen before deciding how much to spend.
Is Silver Palace a gacha game?
Yes. Silver Palace is a free-to-play open-world action RPG with gacha from developer Silver Studio and publisher Elementa, for PC, iOS and Android. It ran beta tests in January and July–August 2026 and has no release date yet. Official rates and pity haven't been published, so beta numbers may change.
Which new anime games are not gacha?
Of the games we checked, DragonSword: Awakening is a one-time purchase ($29.99 on Steam), Aniimo is free-to-play without banners, and Nodusfall and Ananta say characters won't come from random draws. All of them still sell something, so set a spending limit anyway.
