Four numbers first — the traceable figures worth remembering about Tokyo Game Show 2026 (TGS2026):
- 257,642 admissions: the four-day offline total for Sep 17–20 (an “admissions” count, not unique visitors).
- Sep 21 cancelled: the planned fifth day, a public day, was dropped by the organizer after Typhoon No. 25 “Dujuan” was forecast to reach the Kanto region.
- NetEase / Naked Rain off the exhibitor list: per Japanese community tracking and press coverage, neither ANANTA’s publisher nor its developer appears among this year’s exhibitors.
- 113 days: left to the official January 15, 2027 global launch.
The one-line verdict: ANANTA had no public booth at TGS2026, but “skipped the show” is not “slowed development” — its absence sits inside a broader year when Chinese majors pulled back from the consumer hall, and it comes after the release date, the publishing license, and the monetization model had all been announced. Below we separate rumor from fact in four steps: what happened at the show → why Chinese studios were absent → our own cross-check → what launch readiness still looks like.
1. TGS2026: billed as the “longest-ever five days,” cut to four by a typhoon
Per Chinese game outlets including 17173, Ali213 and NetEase accounts, Tokyo Game Show 2026 ran September 17–21 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. The edition was marketed as “the longest ever — five days non-stop”: Sep 17–18 as business days, Sep 19–21 as public days.
The turn came right before the close. With Typhoon No. 25 “Dujuan” forecast to approach Kanto, the organizer announced the cancellation of all Sep 21 on-site activities, issued refunds for Monday tickets, and moved some scheduled stage programs online. The effective on-site run was therefore four days.
- Attendance: 257,642 admissions over four days, peaking on the two public days (Sep 19: 78,678; Sep 20: 72,789); last year drew 263,101, so this year edged slightly lower.
- Scale: 1,138 companies and organizations from 53 countries and regions exhibited offline; the organizer ran 25 online livestreams across YouTube, X, Twitch and niconico, with Douyu and Bilibili carrying the show for the Chinese market.
2. Chinese majors left the consumer hall — NetEase and ANANTA were both off the list
What’s more telling than the typhoon is the lineup shift. GameLook (syndicated via Tencent News) observed that a cluster of large Chinese publishers who held prime floor space last year vanished from the general-public hall this year — Tencent and Century Huatong kept only B2B meeting booths, XD showed up only in the indie area, and miHoYo has now been absent for two years running.
Back to ANANTA itself: the Japanese community tracker (無限大Anantaまとめ速報) reports that NetEase and its Naked Rain studio are not on the TGS2026 exhibitor company list. That is consistent with the macro trend of Chinese majors pulling back — in other words, NetEase most likely never scheduled a public ANANTA playtest booth at this year’s show.
There’s a contrast people miss: last year (TGS2025) ANANTA did have a playtest booth — the media line about “the queue wrapping around the stand three times” is a look back at the prior edition. So “not here this year” is more accurately a change in exhibition cadence, not a change in project status. Judging ANANTA should still rest on checkable facts, not on whether it showed up at one trade event.
3. Original here: TGS2026’s scale, set against ANANTA’s own numbers
As a walkthrough site we hold an item-by-item archive that yields a comparison nobody else can easily produce:
Our timeline now holds 11 milestones (8 development · 3 lore-world), and 4 of them are exhibition/launch related: Rename & License (license granted Dec 2024), gamescom launch date (Jan 15, 2027 announced Aug 2026), the internal-testing stance, and the TGS2026 absence added today.
The scale comparison is the interesting part:
- TGS2026: 1,138 exhibitors from 53 countries and regions, 257,642 admissions over four days — near the ceiling of what a single offline show delivers.
- ANANTA’s official pre-registration line: 110 countries and regions, 17M+ pre-registrations (official press-release figure, archived in our Open Beta vs Internal Test post).
So ANANTA skipped the TGS booth while holding roughly twice the country coverage of the show’s own exhibitor list. For a game that won’t even launch until 2027-01-15 and has ruled out a large public beta, whether it attends one physical show matters far less than how many countries its pre-registration spans. That fits the read in our game-info page and monetization breakdown.
4. Absent ≠ stalled: what’s confirmed, and what still needs an official word
Placing “no TGS” on the whole timeline makes it clear which facts are hard and which are still open:
Traceable (treat as fact):
- The publishing license was approved in December 2024 (see the Rename & License node and the license entry).
- Global launch January 15, 2027 — PC client / Steam / PS5 / mobile, free-to-play (announced at gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live).
- Monetization is cosmetics-only, no character gacha (see the monetization breakdown).
Still pending an official word (we draw no conclusion):
- Whether/when/at what scale any test happens before launch — the stance is “closed internal tests only, no large public beta,” with no set schedule.
- Concrete pricing, monthly pass/battle pass, and whether cosmetics can be rolled randomly.
- The city/volume cadence after the two launch cities (Nova City and Chongxiao).
As for “will ANANTA reappear for a public playtest at some other show,” there is currently no traceable official plan — it’s community expectation, not confirmed here. What is confirmable: 113 days to launch, and judging this game is better done by watching pre-registration milestones and official releases than by any single show appearance.
FAQ
Did ANANTA attend Tokyo Game Show 2026 (TGS2026)?
No public booth appeared. Japanese community tracking and press coverage show NetEase / Naked Rain off the TGS2026 exhibitor list, and Chinese majors were collectively absent from the general-public hall this year — so ANANTA had no TGS playtest stand this edition. Whether any non-public business meetings took place is not stated by the official side and is not treated as fact here.
Why did TGS2026 end early?
Affected by Typhoon No. 25 “Dujuan” approaching Kanto, the organizer cancelled all Sep 21 (final day) on-site activities, cutting the effective run from five days to four (Sep 17–20), with roughly 257,642 admissions over those four days.
ANANTA was at TGS last year — why not this year?
Media coverage shows ANANTA had a playtest booth at the prior edition (TGS2025). This year’s absence is more accurately a change in exhibition cadence, not project status — it comes after the Jan 15, 2027 date, the Dec 2024 license, and the announced monetization model, and is not evidence of a “cancellation.”
Does skipping the show affect the January 15, 2027 launch?
No. The launch date was fixed by the gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live official release: January 15, 2027 on PC / PS5 / mobile, free-to-play. Attending any particular offline show has no causal link to the locked date.
How do I tell ANANTA news from rumor?
Trust three source types: the official Weibo and website, public confirmations from show organizers (e.g. Geoff Keighley), and traceable press releases. Anything without such sourcing — “insider info,” “a project got axed” — is a rumor. We archive checkable progress in our timeline.
How far is ANANTA from launch right now?
As of this post’s date (Sep 24, 2026), there are 113 days to the January 15, 2027 global launch; the official line is 110 countries and regions and 17M+ pre-registrations, still with no large public beta.
Sources
- 17173 (Sep 21, 2026): typhoon hit — TGS2026 ran Sep 17–21; the Sep 21 full day was cancelled due to Typhoon No. 25 “Dujuan.”
- NetEase accounts / Ali213 (Sep 19–21, 2026): Makuhari Messe; five days cut to four; 257,642 admissions; 53 countries, 1,138 exhibitors; 25 livestreams; Monday refunds and some programs moved online.
- GameLook (via Tencent News, Sep 21–22, 2026): Chinese majors collectively absent from the general-public hall; Tencent and Century Huatong B2B-only; miHoYo absent two years; recall of last year’s ANANTA playtest queue.
- 無限大Anantaまとめ速報 (Sep 16/22, 2026 tracking): NetEase / Naked Rain not on the TGS2026 exhibitor company list.
- Games Press official release: Jan 15, 2027 launch, 110 countries/regions, 17M+ pre-registrations, free-to-play (pre-registration figures follow the official release).
- Field statistics from our timeline, Rename & License and gamescom launch date nodes and the license entry.