Naked Rain studio: who is developing Ananta?

Ananta is developed by Naked Rain, a studio belonging to NetEase's Thunder Fire Studio, and published by NetEase Games^[1][2][3]. The studio has teams in Hangzhou, China, and Montreal, Canada^[3][1], and Ananta is its first game^[4]. Here is what is known about the team behind the "anime GTA", from Project Mugen to the January 2027 launch.

Who is Naked Rain?

Naked Rain is a subsidiary of Thunder Fire Studio, one of NetEase's internal development groups^[1][3]. The Steam page for Ananta lists Naked Rain Studio as developer and NetEase Games as publisher^[2]. In practice, Naked Rain makes the game and NetEase handles publishing worldwide.

The Escapist, comparing Ananta with Neverness to Everness, notes that Ananta is Naked Rain's first game^[4]. That matters for expectations: the studio has no previous release to judge it by, and all public knowledge of its work comes from Ananta's trailers, tests and previews.

Where is Naked Rain based?

NetEase's December 2024 press release and Gematsu's coverage of the 2023 reveal both place the studio in two cities: Hangzhou, in eastern China, and Montreal, in Canada^[3][1]. Hangzhou is also where the game's first known hands-on test took place: a small-scale offline technical test on PC on January 3 and 4, 2025^[8].

Hangzhou matters beyond the studio's address. Press coverage of the Gamescom 2026 reveal describes Chongxiao, the game's second city, as drawing on Hangzhou and Shanghai^[10].

How big is the Naked Rain team?

The size of the team has not been published in the sources we follow, including NetEase's press release^[3]. We have not found any official headcount for either the Hangzhou or the Montreal studio, and we do not repeat unsourced estimates. If NetEase or the studio publishes a figure, we will add it here with its source.

From Project Mugen to Ananta: what is the studio's timeline?

1. August 2023: the game is revealed as Project Mugen at Gamescom 2023, on August 23 and 24, by NetEase and Naked Rain^[1][3]. At the time, a PlayStation 4 version was announced alongside PC, mobile and PS5^[1].
2. November 29, 2024: a teaser on the official YouTube channel reveals the new name, Ananta^[5].
3. December 5, 2024: the announce trailer and a NetEase press release present Ananta, formerly Project Mugen^[6][3].
4. January 2025: offline technical test in Hangzhou^[8].
5. August 25, 2026: at Gamescom Opening Night Live, the release date is announced for January 15, 2027^[10][7].

The full list of tests is on our test history page, and every video is on the trailers page.

What have the developers said about Ananta?

In a December 2025 interview with TechRadar, the developers addressed the frequent comparison with GTA 6. They said the two games can coexist, with "very many key differences", notably Ananta's Asian urban setting and anime art style^[9]. They also said the city "remains incomplete" and would be expanded gradually, with possible future maps based on other Asian locations^[9].

The same interview confirmed the studio's approach to monetization: no character gacha, with revenue focused on cosmetics such as skins^[9]. The full list of characters is in our characters overview.

When does Naked Rain's first game come out?

Ananta launches worldwide on January 15, 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, iOS and Android^[7]. Details on the launch and the still-unannounced launch hour are in our release date guide.