Honkai: Nexus Anima is the next Hoyoverse game on the horizon, continuing the company's famous Honkai series in a new fashion. In this guide, we break down everything there is to know about the game's potential release date, closed beta tests, and gameplay, so you're prepared to take on the Nexus Bond Test.
We're massive fans of Hoyoverse's gacha games at Pocket Tactics, so we've got plenty of useful guides for you to explore. We recommend checking out our Genshin Impact codes, Honkai Star Rail codes, and Zenless Zone Zero codes pages for some freebies, or visiting our Genshin Impact tier list and Honkai Star Rail tier list for help with your teambuilding.
Here's everything in our Honkai: Nexus Anima guide:
Honkai: Nexus Anima release date speculation
So far, there's no official Honkai: Nexus Anima release date. Hoyoverse only announced the project on August 28, 2025, after teasing it at the Honkai Star Rail concert in May. Previous Hoyoverse games have hosted several beta tests prior to global release, so we can probably expect a full release date at some point in mid-to-late 2026.
Is there a Honkai: Nexus Anima closed beta test?
Yes, there's a closed beta test for Honkai: Nexus Anima coming up soon. The beta test will start on September 17 and run until September 23. The 'Nexus Bond Test' participants will get notifications via email starting on September 15 at 10 am (UTC+8). If you're successful, you'll get an email with further information.
If you're too eager, you can log into the Honkai Nexus Anima website and click the 'Check Test Access' button. This will bring up a notification saying whether you were successful or not.
What is Honkai: Nexus Anima's gameplay like?
While the first lot of in-game footage shows off a range of different gameplay styles, the core of Honkai: Nexus Anima's gameplay is an autochess system, much like the League of Legends game Teamfight Tactics, or Hearthstone's Battlegrounds. You use your Honkai: Nexus Anima anima (yep, that's what they're called) to battle other characters and show off your skills. It's also a creature collector, so we're expecting some kind of catching mechanic, not dissimilar to those in games like Pokémon.
We've also seen footage of the Honkai: Nexus Anima characters walking around a beachside open world with their fantastical companions, taking photos, playing together, and generally hanging out. We're not sure where it factors into the gameplay, but the trailer also gives us a peek at a character creator, which is a pretty foreign concept in Hoyoverse games.
That's everything we know about Honkai: Nexus Anima so far. We've already seen Honkai Star Rail's Blade and the iconic Honkai Impact character, Kiana, make appearances on the game's website, so we're hoping to see more familiar faces from games like Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero in future announcements.