HoYoverse leaves anime behind for Nodusfall, a co-op hunt through broken mythology

A different HoYoverse

The social-media pitch practically writes itself: the creators of Genshin are mixing Monster Hunter with Elden Ring. It gets the idea across, but it also needs a correction. Nodusfall is a HoYoverse project, from the company behind Genshin Impact, yet no specific development team has been publicly named and there is no evidence that it shares individual leads with that game.

The meaningful break is visual and structural. HoYoverse is leaving the anime look of Genshin Impact and its newly opened Snezhnaya for more realistic proportions, colossal creatures and battles built around a party. The Gamescom Opening Night Live reveal features swords, bows, magic, parries and coordinated attacks, but it is an edited montage rather than unbroken gameplay, so the balance between hunting game, RPG and carefully staged trailer remains unknown.

Taking a boss's power

Players become Weavers, warriors travelling through a world where divine order has collapsed. HoYoverse says its fantasy will draw on several mythologies, placing Eastern beasts alongside Western dragons instead of building the setting around one tradition.

The clearest mechanical idea concerns the bosses. Defeating them yields items that unlock new weapons and abilities, after which each player can rearrange a loadout to fill a different role in the party. The studio is promising tactical co-operation and freedom to build combat styles, two features that evoke a shared hunt without automatically making this another Monster Hunter.

Nodusfall runs on Unreal Engine 5 and aims for a heavier, more physical scale than HoYoverse's existing worlds. The contrast matters on the business side too. Gacha powers Genshin and several of the company's biggest games, but Nodusfall has not yet been confirmed as free-to-play or attached to that model.

The missing pieces

There is no release date, price or platform list. HoYoverse has also said nothing about maximum party size, whether the full adventure works solo or how open its world will be. The official site currently offers registration for future updates and little else.

That makes Nodusfall one of the more striking reveals from an already crowded Gamescom 2026, but not yet a game anyone can properly measure. Monster Hunter meets Elden Ring is the easy comparison. The better question is whether HoYoverse can carry its relentless update machine into co-op action without bringing every habit of the gacha economy with it. That is the story worth following.