Chinese publishers are betting on cozy life sims as gacha ARPG growth slows

A new market analysis argues that some of China’s biggest game companies are shifting attention away from anime-style gacha action RPGs and toward lower-pressure life sims. The basic idea is simple: the “Genshin-like” formula is getting harder to sustain, while cozy, social games may have more room to grow.

The piece points to falling mobile revenue for major games in the category, including Zenless Zone Zero, and rising user acquisition costs for titles like Wuthering Waves. In other words, it’s getting more expensive to keep these games growing, and even big updates aren’t hitting as hard as they used to.

That helps explain why upcoming projects such as Tencent’s Animula Nook and miHoYo’s Petit Planet are getting attention. Both are described as lifestyle sims rather than combat-heavy RPGs. Animula Nook reportedly centers on a miniature world where everyday desk items become building materials, while Petit Planet is said to focus on farming and planetary infrastructure.

The analysis frames this as a push toward “second games” players can check in on without the usual stat grind, endgame pressure, or power creep. That’s a notable change from the daily treadmill common in many live-service RPGs, especially on mobile.

It also doesn’t mean monetization goes away. The expectation is that these games would lean more on cosmetics, companions, convenience purchases, and possibly user-generated content systems instead of selling power. The article also points to NetEase’s Eggy Party as proof that broader, more casual games can pull in huge daily audiences in China.

None of this confirms that combat-focused gacha games are disappearing, and the source is ultimately an opinion piece rather than a formal company strategy memo. Still, if Tencent and miHoYo do release Animula Nook and Petit Planet in 2026 as expected, they could be an early sign of where the market is heading next.