Regarding domestic action games that have shown strong momentum in recent years, from Black MYTH - Steam Edition: Wukong, which sparked a global热潮, to Phantom Blade Zero, which has garnered significant attention for its wuxia heritage ahead of its release next month, the overall development is impressive. At Gamescom 2026, Krista Lee from Genigods Lab personally showcased Genigods: Nezha to me (from foreign media outlet WCCF), following an online preview earlier this year. This title aims to approach this genre from a slightly different angle: it chooses neither Journey to the West nor traditional wuxia, but instead directs its gaze straight to the origin of the world.
This studio is no novice in development, though this is their first attempt at a hardcore action game. The founders of Genigods Lab have been working in the industry for about 20 years, and the mobile game Legend of the Condor Heroes by Softstar, which has surpassed 10 million downloads, was developed by this same studio.
Krista Lee outlined the studio's development history to me in decades. The first decade focused on developing licensed IPs, the second decade aimed at creating their own mobile IPs, and the newly begun third decade is what they call the "Genesis era."Genigods: Nezha is the first title in this strategic roadmap, with the studio's ambitious goal being to create a complete trilogy covering ancient Chinese mythology over the next decade.
As expected, the game is developed using Unreal Engine 5 and is currently being optimized specifically for PlayStation platforms in collaboration with Sony. The game is scheduled for simultaneous release in 2028 on PC (currently available for wishlist on Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, which was announced during the Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live event. Similar to the aforementioned domestic AAA titles, this game will use a buy-to-play distribution model.
Mythological Background
If you are not familiar with Chinese creation myths, this setting indeed requires some explanation, which is well worth it, as the entire game is built upon an ingenious new interpretation of these myths.
In mythology, the primordial giant Pangu separated heaven and earth. After he fell, his body transformed into all things in the world: his blood became rivers, his bones turned into mountains, and his muscles evolved into soil. Subsequently, the goddess of life, Nüwa, shaped the earliest humans from clay and smelted five-colored stones to mend the heavens when the sky pillars broke and the heavens collapsed.
The story of Genigods: Nezha begins after Pangu falls into an eternal slumber, leaving the world in chaos. Ten suns scorch the earth into a crimson desert; gods wage war in the fractured sky, while exotic beasts and monsters crawl out from the abyss.
Most people who know Nezha recall him from Investiture of the Gods. In that story, set approximately three thousand years ago during the Shang Dynasty, he is a rebellious youth who fights against the Dragon King, cuts his bones to return to his father and flesh to his mother, and is eventually reborn with a body made of lotus flowers. Recently, this IP has once again become a phenomenal focus, with Ne Zha 2 breaking animated film box office records and topping China's all-time box office chart.
However, Genigods: Nezha traces the timeline back much further. In Investiture of the Gods, Nezha's previous incarnation was the "Spirit Pearl." This title seizes upon this detail, posing a key question: Where did the Spirit Pearl itself originally come from? Thus pulling the timeline back to an era before humanity was born.
Players take on the role of the Spirit Pearl itself, forged by Nüwa from the elements of earth, water, and fire. You do not start in human form, but rather as something closer to a vessel or divine artifact. Throughout the game, you gradually evolve into the first human—a female figure shaped from water and clay—and are eventually reincarnated as Nezha. Thus, Nezha is portrayed as a female character in this title, set in a world where she is nearly the only human.
However, you are not alone on this journey. Mythological heroes, including Hou Yi, who shot down nine suns, and Yu the Great, who controlled the floods, will play important roles in the game. Kuafu will also assist you in climbing the Sun God Tree that connects the mortal realm with the heavens.
Fluid Combat and Relic Fusion
The design philosophy behind the combat system is the most stunning aspect of Genigods Lab. The studio's core concept is that "water is the source of all things," directly drawing from Bruce Lee's philosophy of "be water, my friend" and Jeet Kune Do to construct a highly fluid combat system. Nüwa has granted you the "Heart of Sacred Water," a conscious companion capable of growing alongside you, serving as both a source of energy and a tool for puzzle-solving.
In practice, this means fast-paced combat involving style/stance switching that seamlessly transitions between ground and air. The studio demonstrated a combat flow where enemies are launched into the air with chains, combos are executed mid-air, and the sequence ends with an execution move. Their cited references are the early God of War and Devil May Cry titles, highlighting the high-tempo combat the game aims for.
The second core pillar, as described by the studio, is "Relic Fusion." During your adventure, you can collect artifacts from Chinese mythology and fuse them with Nezha's own weapons and forms to create entirely new abilities. An example given in the demo was Hou Yi's Sun-Shooting Bow: when fused with Nezha's weapon, it transforms into a new form, integrating the legendary power of shooting down the suns into combat. Later in the game, you can even awaken Nezha's iconic ultimate form with "three heads and six arms."
Colossal Deities
The colossal scale of battles is another major selling point of this title. You will fight against deities and giant creatures as tall as mountains, with some battles requiring players to climb onto their bodies to engage in prolonged struggles, very similar to Shadow of the Colossus or Dragon's Dogma. Genigods Lab stated that the approximately 25-hour main storyline includes over 10 such epic duels.
The game also features multiple endings. Krista Lee mentioned that players would need to complete the game roughly three times to unlock all endings; she then jokingly added that perhaps all choices ultimately lead to the same ending, but you will never know the answer unless you try it yourself.
Visually, the team drew inspiration from the sculptural art of the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. As Buddhist grottoes along the Silk Road, the unique lines and contours of Dunhuang art have been integrated into the character designs.
First Impressions
At Gamescom 2026, Genigods Lab provided a playable demo featuring a challenge against a mysterious plate-armored warrior known as "The Rift-Cursed." From the start, the game's similarities to aforementioned action blockbusters (Devil May Cry and the early God of War trilogy) were quite apparent, granting Genigods: Nezha an extremely fast-paced combat experience. This quasi-goddess can quickly close in on enemies using an "Air Dash," while also possessing an incredibly rich variety of combo chains, ranging from the basic "Uppercut" (triggered by holding the X button) to more complex moves like "Multi-Kick," "Serpentine Volley," "Plantain Fan," "Aquatic Time Cage," "A Thousand Arrows," "Fast Fall," "Dragon Emerges," "Dragon Crash Kick," "Dragon Stream," "Aqueos Orb," "Sun Piercer," and "Dragon Leap."
Of course, within the limited demo time, I couldn't master all the skills. I mainly relied on precise parries and dodges. For a demo of this nature, the difficulty was designed to be relatively accessible, which is completely understandable. Another interesting mechanic is the "Divine Power gauge," which reminded me of fighting games. This energy bar is initially split into blue and red sections, with each side's performance in battle determining the proportion of their respective color. When I filled the entire bar with blue, I could perform an "Execution," stunning the enemy and allowing me to unleash damage without restraint.
Overall, while there is clearly a significant amount of development work remaining before the game is finished, I greatly enjoyed this brief demo experience, and my interest in the title has grown even stronger compared to before the demonstration.
After the demo, I asked several questions to the representatives from Genigods Lab. You can find our interview conversation below.
So, is Nezha's ultimate goal to become a goddess?
Krista Lee: Yes, to become a god, and to stop the giants. To attain immortality.
How large is the team? How many developers are there?
Krista Lee: For this, we have about 60.
What stage of development is the game currently in? Alpha or Pre-Alpha?
Krista Lee: Actually, we are still in the early stages.
Since this is the first installment in the series, are there plans to release other games in the future?
Krista Lee: That will be our next plan. This plan primarily revolves around Nezha. After this game, we will release more content. Over the next ten years, we will develop three major chapters centered around creation myths.
Will there be a necessary connection between the two?
Krista Lee: Yes. If you complete this game, you will have a very clear understanding of the first part of the story, and then you can play the next game. Of course, you can play the next game independently, but if you play this one first, the experience will be better.
The presentation slide stated 2028. Is that the target year?
Krista Lee: Yes, we have been working on this for two years.
Does the PC version support path tracing?
Krista Lee: Yes.
Alright. Thank you for your time.
