On the evening of May 20, NetEase held its 2026 520 Online Conference. Over 40 games and platform products took their turns on stage. The usual spectacle was there—but one shift was hard to miss.
This year, the number of genuinely new games clocked in at just four.
That is not a sign of weakness. NetEase pulled in 89.6 billion yuan in online game revenue in fiscal 2025, up 11% year-over-year. With numbers like that behind it, cutting the new-game count looks less like belt-tightening and more like a deliberate choice.
The four newcomers—Sea of Remnants, Floatopia, Planet Party Time, and Infinite Borders: Three Kingdoms—barely overlap in genre. An open-ocean adventure, a cozy life sim, a healing party game, and a premium standalone strategy title. Each one steps into a lane NetEase hasn’t systematically occupied before. This isn’t about flooding the market with projects. It’s a more targeted expansion into genres NetEase previously had little presence in.
And then there is the absence everyone noticed: Ananta, NetEase’s next-gen urban open-world project, hasn’t been seen publicly since its closed alpha in January 2025. The Q4 earnings call last year confirmed that test data had “met internal expectations,” but since then—silence. Given its ambition of a simultaneous global launch across all platforms, skipping the 520 stage is more about development rhythm than hesitation. They’re just not ready to show their hand.
Conqueror’s Blade: Three Kingdoms also closed the show as a heavyweight season premiere—its foundational overhaul is substantial enough to be treated here as a new title.
Here’s how each of them stacks up, roughly in order of how close they are to launch.
Sea of Remnants — The next card to turn over
Of this batch, Sea of Remnants is the closest to release.
Developed by NetEase’s Joker Studio—the team behind Identity V—this project has been in the works for seven years, most of it in near-total silence. At the 520 event, the studio confirmed a preview livestream on May 22, followed by a paid closed beta dubbed “Dawnbreaker Test” on May 28. In industry terms, a paid beta is typically the final round before launch. NetEase executives had previously noted on an earnings call that the game is targeting a Q3 2026 release.
In terms of gameplay, Sea of Remnants positions itself as an ocean-adventure open-world RPG, weaving together naval exploration, turn-based land combat, roguelike elements, and an extraction-style tactical loop. Rather than following the conventional open-world playbook of stacking content, Joker Studio has placed exploration at the center of the design. The main story serves as a guide to new regions, while a significant portion of narrative fragments are scattered across the map, waiting to be found. Earlier tests have already drawn positive responses to this exploration-driven storytelling approach.
If the timeline holds, Sea of Remnants is likely to be NetEase’s lead title for the summer window.
Floatopia — We almost thought it was gone
Previously known by its codename Project: Wander, this title was first revealed at Gamescom 2024, received a license in March 2025, and then promptly vanished. Some suspected the project had been shelved—until it resurfaced at this 520.
The pitch is a fantasy-themed cozy life sim: you’re the new administrator of a floating island, befriending superpowered neighbors, farming crops, and throwing parties whenever the mood strikes. Based on trailer details, a first test could arrive as early as June. The life-sim genre has been heating up noticeably over the past two years—Tencent has Lili’s Tiny World, miHoYo has Astraea’s Garden. NetEase, for its part, is covering both ends with Floatopia (healing vibes, island management) and Planet Party Time (party social). Two legs, one lane.
Infinite Borders: Three Kingdoms — We all thought this one was dead
Of everything shown at the conference, this was the biggest surprise by a wide margin.
Developed by NetEase’s 10th Studio, the project had been in development for over four years with a team that once numbered around seventy. It even ran a public demo during Steam Next Fest in June 2025. Then came reports that the team had been disbanded, and the industry largely assumed the game was gone.
Instead, it walked back onto the 520 stage with new features in tow: a sandbox mode that lets players experience classic Three Kingdoms battles, and an AI editor for creating custom maps, scripts, and generals. This is no longer a traditional linear strategy title—it’s shaping up to be a Three Kingdoms-themed strategy sandbox. Should China have its own Romance of the Three Kingdoms-caliber standalone strategy game? NetEase’s answer, delivered through action: someone has to make it.
Planet Party Time — A new experiment from Thunderfire UX
Developed by the Thunderfire UX User Experience Center, Planet Party Time is a cosmic life-sim party game. A PC early-access version launched at the end of April alongside Season 0, “China Chapter.” At 520, the team announced a collaboration with Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, set to go live on May 21. Healing aesthetics, low barrier to entry, strong social hooks—the target audience is clearly drawn.
Conqueror’s Blade: Three Kingdoms — A season update with the weight of a new launch
This is the first major Three Kingdoms season for Conqueror’s Blade, the cold-weapon cavalry warfare MMO developed by Buming Studio. It closed the 520 show as a de facto new title. The gameplay reveal demonstrated a substantial foundational rework—the concept of cross-era troop clashes makes its debut, with unit traits rigorously designed around historical logic. NetEase’s broader Three Kingdoms IP strategy has been methodical: after Infinite Borders, titles like Infinite Borders: Three Kingdoms, Conqueror’s Blade: Three Kingdoms, and Dynasty Warriors: Unleashed are all advancing along separate tracks.
The old guard is still doing the heavy lifting
New games may be fewer, but the live-service backbone—Fantasy Westward Journey, Sword of Justice, Where Winds Meet, Marvel Rivals, Naraka: Bladepoint—remains intact, and each of these franchises is now charting its own distinct path.
Sword of Justice marked its third anniversary with a full rebrand to Justice: New World. New lighting, new facial models, new maps, and a fresh narrative line all roll out simultaneously, but the headline feature is the “Loot Rain” treasure system—fusing extraction mechanics into the MMO framework, where rare cosmetics, premium outfits, and even cash red envelopes can be “found” in the world. NetEase is currently applying for a Guinness World Record for “the game with the most player-reward mechanics.”
Fantasy Westward Journey PC version set a new concurrent-player record of 3.58 million in 2025. At 520, it announced a collaboration with Dunhuang culture for exclusive mounts and outfits, while the mobile version opened a new mystic realm called “Reincarnation.”
Marvel Rivals launched Season 8 on May 15, with the new hero Devil Dinosaur entering the fray. On the esports side, the Ignite Stage 1 group stage runs from May 21 to June 7, with playoffs set for June 25 to July 5 and a total prize pool of 650,000 USD. With *Spider-Man 4* and Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters later this year, the game is positioned for a significant exposure boost.
Naraka: Bladepoint launched its second crossover with Armor Hero, introducing the Xingtian and Shura armors alongside a new in-match PvE speedrun mode.
Where Winds Meet took a smaller but meaningful step: a new Companion System arrives on May 29, with four cats and three geese joining as the first companions. The Qingzhou sub-region “Pengshan” opens simultaneously. Its international server previously reached the top 3 on global revenue charts with the “Hexi” update—its global foundation continues to solidify.
Stepping back from the conference itself
What lingered after this year’s 520 wasn’t any single game. It was a shift in posture.
Dropping from nine new titles last year to four this year isn’t about running out of money—89.6 billion yuan in revenue and 11% growth says otherwise. NetEase now seems more willing to hold projects back until they’re ready, rather than filling showcase slots with premature announcements. And that feels intentional.
The four newcomers almost read like a gap-fill list for the next two years: ocean exploration, cozy life sim, standalone strategy, party social. None of them sit in NetEase’s traditional comfort zone, but every one of these lanes has proven successful products in the global market. This isn’t about flooding the market with projects. It’s a more targeted expansion into genres NetEase previously had little presence in.
Behind these new faces stands a live-service roster that has already proven its staying power. Sword of Justice spent three years evolving from “Make MMO Great Again” to “Let Greatness Happen Again.” Marvel Rivals is converting IP momentum into an esports circuit. Where Winds Meet is carving out a distinct Eastern martial-arts identity overseas. And Fantasy Westward Journey is still breaking its own records.
As for Ananta—its absence is not necessarily a bad thing. For a project of this scale, it is better to over-polish than to rush.
All game screenshots, character designs, and related assets referenced in this article are the property of NetEase Games. The article itself is an original work of commentary and curation. Please credit the source if reposting. For copyright concerns, contact yomiqo@126.com.
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