Gamescom 2026 is being held in Cologne, Germany, from August 26 to 30. During Opening Night Live, miHoYo unveiled its new original IP NODUSFALL for the first time and released its world premiere trailer, which showcased glimpses of the gameโs combat mechanics and world setting.
Compared with the anime-style characters and RPG-focused gameplay seen in many of miHoYoโs previous titles, the new game takes a noticeably different approach in both visual style and combat design.
Based on the footage shown at the event, NODUSFALL is being developed with Unreal Engine 5, with the demo focusing on exploration, combat and multiplayer cooperation. Players can control customizable characters as they explore ruins suspended above a sea of clouds.
Floating platforms, structures and other elements of the environment can change in response to player actions and attacks from giant creatures, with physics-based effects adding a greater sense of spatial interaction to combat.
Multiplayer co-op is one of the key features showcased in the demo. The game introduces a combat system built around Elemental Links, where players can create different energy nodes on giant elemental creatures through various weapons and attacks, then coordinate with other players to exploit them.
The demo showed support for teams of up to four players, while characters can also make use of environmental mechanisms during battles, such as using floating platforms to quickly reach a creature and target specific parts of its body.
Rather than relying primarily on character skills to deal damage, this design places greater emphasis on coordination between players and the role of the environment in combat. The scale and attack patterns of the giant creatures also give the battles a distinct hunting-game feel, setting NODUSFALL apart from miHoYoโs previous open-world and action RPG titles.
The demo also offered a closer look at the gameโs world for the first time. The story takes place across floating continents formed after the shattering of the Source Core.
The scattered Elements have transformed the local ecosystem and granted different powers to certain creatures and humans. Players take on the role of Linkers and explore various ruins as they gradually uncover the reasons that led to the destruction of the Source Core.
Based on what has been revealed so far, NODUSFALL does not follow the traditional anime-style RPG formula seen in titles such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. It puts greater focus on a more realistic fantasy world, action-oriented combat and multiplayer co-op.
More details about the characters, regions and business model of NODUSFALL have yet to be revealed, and miHoYo has not announced an official release date. According to miHoYo, the development of NODUSFALL has been underway for more than four years.
For miHoYo, which has already established a strong lineup of anime-style games, the new title marks an attempt to explore a different genre and potentially reach a different segment of the global gaming market.
Whether this approach can attract players in an increasingly competitive global gaming market will depend on how miHoYo further develops the gameโs content and long-term operations.
