HoYoverse, the Chinese studio behind Genshin Impact, is developing Petit Planet, a free cosy life-sim in the mould of Animal Crossing, and Push Square's preview suggests it could genuinely eat into Nintendo's market share. While it won't match the cultural weight of Nintendo's established icons like Tom Nook and K.K. Slider, its free-to-play, cross-platform model and HoYoverse's track record of relentless post-launch support give it an edge Nintendo has been reluctant to pursue, having wound down updates for Animal Crossing: New Horizons relatively quickly.

Petit Planet is due to launch this winter on PC and mobile, with the developer hinting at further platforms to come; the writer argues Sony in particular should be pushing hard to secure it for PS5, given Disney Dreamlight Valley is currently the only comparable big-budget rival on the console. Hands-on at Gamescom revealed familiar Animal Crossing-style mechanics — village-building, crop-growing, furniture crafting and neighbour interactions — alongside a distinctive "Starsea Voyage" mode letting players explore small adventure-style map segments called Islets for unique items and puzzles. The preview was less keen on the game's blind-box-style character designs, though it noted their popularity given trends like the Labubu craze.