HoYoverse, the studio behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, will release Petit Planet worldwide in winter 2026. It is the company's first cozy galactic life sim. An exact date is still TBA. The game is free to play on PC (official client and Epic Games Store), iOS, and Android, with cross-save across those platforms and a required internet connection.
Pre-registration is open on the App Store, Google Play, Epic Games Store, and planet.hoyoverse.com. Sign-ups can include launch rewards such as the Bestie Star-Light and the Sproutling Outfit Set. A Final Beta Test begins September 20. Earlier closed tests were the Coziness Test (November 7, 2025) and the Stardrift Test (April 21, 2026). Extra platforms are "in development." A Switch 2 ESRB listing has been reported, but consoles are not on the official winter list.
How it works
You play as a Planet Tender sent by Loomi Corp to a small planetoid. The slogan is "Weave Your Dreams Beneath the Stars." In China the title is Xing Bu Gu Di (星布谷地), or "Star-Scattered Valley."
Daily life is the usual cozy loop: farming, fishing, beachcombing, mining, cooking, crafting, and decorating. After the tutorial, a real-world clock applies, so some builds and shops take more than one day. Progress is tied to the Luca Arbor, a tree grown from a Lucaseed. Luca is the planet's vitality. Water the tree and it unlocks tools, weather, farmland, and visual changes, including Luca Fruit that can restyle the world. You can also terraform land, coast, and sky.
Furniture comes from Inspo Cards, which work like recipes. Avatars support full customization. House upgrades use scores and resources. Early on, mentor figure Mobai makes it clear you are not taking out a loan to live there.
When home feels small, you sail the Starsea to Islets with new biomes, materials, recipes, and encounters. Voyages feed resources back to your planet. The shared hub is the Galactic Bazaar, where players meet for coffee, bonfires, fortune-telling, auctions, festivals, and rhythm mini-games.
Neighbors and money
Neighbors are animal characters with jobs, gifts, birthdays, and friendship meters. Each has a Planette, a personal mini-world you can rank up for rewards such as Lumia Batteries used on voyages. Your first trio is Mobai (Life Coordinator), Glenn (shopkeeper squirrel), and Esassani (Starsea Racer). Later arrivals include Yunguo, Isaki, Medowlyn, Frostia, Dorjelang, Mors, Msafiri, Harpeno, Rebella, and Nerina. The cast is smaller than Animal Crossing, but each Neighbor has a thicker quest line.
Test currencies include Dough for Glenn's shop and Loomi for daily Footprint tasks and cosmetics. Beta builds showed no Neighbor gacha. Spending pointed at cosmetics and a battle-pass-style Curio Card. That can still change at launch.
The comparison, and who it is for
Yes, it looks like Animal Crossing in space: cute residents, bugs, fish, decorating, and a plaza. The extras are a terraformable planet, a separate voyage layer, and a dedicated multiplayer city. Testers liked the look and characters. They also flagged long tutorials plus messy inventory and UI.
Petit Planet suits players who want a soft routine and do not mind an always-online HoYoverse account. It is a weaker fit if you want a paid, offline game with no shop. The live-service frame (new Neighbors, Islets, seasons) is already visible. Whether the planet stays gentle will depend on the winter store.