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ChinaJoy 2026, China's largest game exhibition, will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from July 31st to August 3rd.

Now in its 23rd year, ChinaJoy 2026, as China’s representative game show, will be held this year with a total exhibition area of over 140,000 square meters, and about 900 companies have confirmed their participation so far.

Under the theme of 'Level Up with AI', it is being prepared as a large-scale exhibition covering games, AI technology, hardware, pop culture, and the digital consumer ecosystem. More than 500 game companies, including Tencent Games, NetEase Games, Blizzard Entertainment, and Century Huatong, will participate to showcase over 1,000 games. In particular, it is impressive that the 'ChinaJoy Express Demo Zone' has been set up separately where unique indie games can be met in one place.

ChinaJoy 2026

Unlike last year's event, where Pearl Abyss, which participated with 'Crimson Desert', and Nexon, which showcased 'The First Berserker: Khazan' through the Tencent booth, drew attention, participation from major domestic game companies decreased this year. It is interpreted that since it is not easy to obtain foreign game licenses, entry into China is difficult, and they are focusing on Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show to target the Japanese and European markets, the importance of ChinaJoy has decreased.

Although the participation of major game companies has decreased, the challenges of indie game companies seeking to enter the Chinese market continue this year as well. Through the joint pavilion prepared by the Korea Creative Content Agency, ACT Games, Endev Games, Nanu Company, Nanali Studio, Averton, Underflow Studio, Hypersent, WayWay, Studio BBB, and Quesera Games will participate to meet local users.

In addition, Storytaco, which has been introducing consecutive new FMV games, will participate alongside 10 participating actors to meet local fans, and Nexus, which recently became a hot topic for acquiring ONE store, has decided to participate to introduce its blockchain platform.

At the Gyeonggi Content Agency, 10 companies recruited through the 2026 G-Connection Market linkage support will participate as a separate joint pavilion. Since the recruitment field was wide, most are content and character companies, but game companies Newcore Games and Team Tetrapod were included.

ChinaJoy 2025 Korea Joint Pavilion

Looking at the participating games, they consist of a very diverse range of genres, with some games already released globally and others preparing for release.

Storytaco, which announced its solo participation, plans to showcase the FMV genres 'But Are All the Boarders Beautiful? Season 2' and 'Summer Beauties: Heart Attack Warning!', which are showing fearsome growth recently in China.

Storytaco participating in ChinaJoy 2026 with the cast actors

Team Tetrapod, participating through the Gyeonggi Content Agency, is expected to showcase its recently released Stepets Retro: Psychic Detective Quest. This game is an adventure game featuring a deduction system that tracks clues to cases utilizing superpowers. Newcore Games, also participating in the Gyeonggi Content Agency booth, is expected to showcase its recently announced action roguelite game 'Seven Trials'.

Newcore Games preparing Seven Trials

ACT Games, participating in the Korea Creative Content Agency Joint Pavilion, will showcase 'Hello Kitty My Dream Store' utilizing the Sanrio Hello Kitty IP. This game is a mobile merge puzzle genre released last year, where you can meet famous Sanrio characters, receiving favorable reviews with a rating of 4.3 on the Google Play Store.

Hello Kitty My Dream Store

Endev Games showcases 'Fatal Claw', which was released as Steam Early Access through Com2uS Holdings. The game tells the story of exploring a mysterious underground world with 'Kisha', a mystical cat, and is characterized by well-reflecting the traits of the Metroidvania genre by combining side-scrolling action with growth elements.

Fatal Claw

Nanu Company will showcase 'Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos', prepared with the console market in mind. This game is a bullet hell (Vampire Survivors-like) genre, which recently ended Steam Early Access and transitioned to official service, drawing a lot of attention by exceeding 100,000 copies sold within a month of starting Early Access.

Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos

Nanali Studio will participate with its representative game, 'Forest Island'. This game is a healing game about growing an island with cute animal friends, introduced in 2021, and its game quality was recognized by winning the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award in 2022 and being selected as a must-have indie game on the Korean Apple App Store in 2024.

Forest Island

Averton, drawing attention by developing 'Zeus: God of Pride' published by Com2uS, will participate in ChinaJoy with its separately prepared project 'Guns & Dragons'. This game is a cooperative roguelite FPS game set in a fantasy world with a touch of magic engineering. You can simultaneously enjoy fast-paced shooting action, a real-time changing weapon system, and the immersion of single-player gameplay alongside the fun of up to 3-player co-op play.

Guns & Dragons

Underflow Studio will showcase 'Fakebook', which drew attention as a deduction adventure game utilizing AI. In this game, players grow accounts to gather followers in an SNS world where about 2,000 virtual users exist, and experience the process of exposing the unfair death of their older sister. The core fun of this game lies in finding secrets hidden by family, friends, corporations, and idols in a world where numerous virtual users share their daily lives every day.

Fakebook

Hypersent, which is drawing attention after successfully launching the horror co-op game Backrooms Company, showcases its new game Backrooms Cleaners. This sequel expands the world of the previous work Backrooms Company and emphasizes combat, growth, and repetitive play. Thanks to the new gameplay emphasizing combat, growth, co-op play, and a roguelike repetitive structure in the Backrooms world, it is highly anticipated, gathering over 8,000 applicants within a week of opening playtest recruitment.

Backrooms Cleaners

WayWay Studio will showcase the roguelite action game 'Aksun'. This game is set in a dark fantasy world that reinterprets Korean shamanic beliefs and folklore, allowing for a different combat experience each time by combining more than 90 'ghostly items', and features weapons inspired by traditional defensive gear and a 'possession' system that temporarily borrows the power of gods.

Aksun

Studio BBB, in cooperation with the Japanese publisher Phoenixx, showcases MonoWave, a puzzle adventure game preparing for release. This game is characterized by solving various puzzles using an 'empathy system' that exchanges emotions through songs and four feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety. Following winning the Grand Prize at the 2025 Gyeonggi Game Audition and winning the Taipei Game Show 2025 Indie Game Award, its award history is very spectacular, being nominated for the Creative Overkill category at the devcom Indie Awards and the Games for Impact category at the Gamescom Awards.

MonoWave

Quesera Games will showcase 'KALPA: Cosmic Symphony'. This is a keyboard-type rhythm game emphasizing story, which was first released on mobile and then on Steam last year. Thanks to its attractive story and original songs, it maintains very positive reviews on Steam and continues to receive favorable reviews with steady updates, such as showcasing its 4th DLC this time.

KALPA: Cosmic Symphony

According to last year's announcement by the Korea Creative Content Agency, a total of 9 small and medium game developers, including Takeone Company, Arumgames, Storytaco, Com2uS Rocat, Roomtom, Play Mephistowaltz, Team Tetrapod, ClanB, and BecauseOfUs, participated in the Korea Joint Pavilion, conducting more than 352 consultations. Interest is focused on which games will achieve their targeted results at ChinaJoy and return this year.

#IT #Planning #ChinaJoy2026 #KOCCA

[Source: Nanali Studio] Nanali Studio (CEO Jaehwan Park) announced on the 12th that its idle animal healing game 'Forest Island', which it develops and services, has undergone a major system reorganization along with a Coconut Pass update for the summer season.

The Season Pass, which had previously been operated on a 3-month basis, will be reorganized into a monthly 'Monthly Pass' starting this summer. Starting with this 'June Coconut Pass', Nanali Studio plans to introduce two new monthly summer season passes through additional updates every month.

Through this update, a variety of summer content has been added to Forest Island. First, in celebration of June, a new lineup of four animals, including the Lavender Axolotl, Commerson's Dolphin, Sun Conure, and Welsh Corgi, has been added to make the island even more abundant.

In addition, an emotional presentation that perfectly captures the summer sea atmosphere has been added. Along with the 'Plankton Sea Weather' which creates a dreamlike atmosphere, a large number of new decorations that users can use to decorate their own summer sea, such as coconuts, white deadwood, and 'Coconut Reef' which generates a bubble effect when touched, have been added.

To celebrate the summer season, a 'Special Gift Event' and a 'Friend Tag Event' will be held for users through the official Instagram.

Furthermore, for new users who download the app through the App Store and Google Play, the popular 'Three Baby Rabbit Brothers' and '1 Albino Raccoon' will be presented as a welcome gift.

In addition, surprise gifts sent by animal friends will be delivered to the mailbox to coincide with upcoming animal-related anniversaries, such as World Flamingo Day (June 23), World Killer Whale Day (July 14), and International Cat Day (August 8), targeting registered users including existing ones.

Jaehwan Park, CEO of Nanali Studio, expressed his ambitions, saying, "We prepared a large-scale update celebrating the summer season by actively incorporating users' feedback to add various animals. We will continue to establish ourselves as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through continuous updates and diverse events." 

'Forest Island', which has surpassed 10 million cumulative downloads, is a global animal healing game with a 4.7 rating on Google Play and the App Store. It features beautiful graphics and a 'Relaxation Mode' where you can enjoy high-quality ASMR sounds such as wind, waves, and birds chirping. 

Recognized for its artistic quality, it has been selected for the App Store's 'Game of the Day', 'Essential iPhone Games', 'Essential Simulation Games', 'Earth Day, Games with Environmental Protection in Mind', and 'Essential Indie Games', as well as Google Play's 'Recommended Game of the Week'. In the second half of 2022, it was awarded the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation in the functional game category of 'Excellent Game of the Month'.

[Data provided by Nanali Studio] Nanali Studio (CEO Jaehwan Park) announced on the 4th that its idle animal healing game 'Forest Island', which it is currently developing and servicing, has undergone a large-scale Australia-themed update.

This Australia-themed update introduces a large amount of new content, including decorating uninhabited islands, Australian animal friends, a red paper boat, and an old chest.

In celebration of the Golden Week holidays in May, various iconic Australian animal friends, such as kangaroos, wombats, platypuses, quokkas, Mary River turtles, emus, cassowaries, Tasmanian devils, and Tasmanian tigers, are coming to Forest Island.

To celebrate the Australia-themed update, a special event will be held soon on the official Instagram for users.

In addition, new users who download the app through the App Store and Google Play will receive the popular 'Three Baby Rabbit Brothers' and 'One Albino Raccoon' as a welcome gift.

On top of this, gifts sent by animal friends will be delivered to the mailboxes of registered users on World Turtle Day (May 23rd).

Jaehwan Park, CEO of Nanali Studio, stated, 'We carried out this Australia-themed update by actively listening to the feedback from users asking for various animals to be added,' adding, 'We will continue to establish ourselves as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through continuous updates and events.'

(XportsNews reporter Lee Jung-beom) 'Forest Island' has launched its spring season Cherry Blossom Pass update.

On the 13th, Nanali Studio (CEO Park Jae-hwan) announced that it has updated the spring season Cherry Blossom Pass for its idle animal healing game 'Forest Island', which it develops and services.

This spring season commemorative update features ▲the Spring Season Cherry Blossom Pass ▲5 types of pink animal friends ▲2 types of cherry blossom weather ▲the Gazelle Event Pass ▲the Red Horse Event Pass ▲Snowflake Island system reorganization ▲Baby Duck Package reorganization, among other content.

For the animal lineup, Cherry Blossom Lop-eared Rabbit, Cherry Blossom Wild Boar, Capybara with Flowers, and Pink Frog have been added. 'Cherry Blossom Festival Weather' and 'Cherry Blossom Forest Weather', featuring fluttering cherry blossom petals, have also been introduced. Furthermore, to celebrate the release of the Spring Season Pass, a 'Special Gift Event' for users will be held through the official Instagram. 

New users who download the app through the App Store and Google Play will receive 'Three Baby Rabbit Brothers' and '1 Albino Raccoon' as a welcome gift. For registered users, gifts will be sent to their in-game mailbox in alignment with World Panda Day (March 16) and World Penguin Day (April 25).

Through additional updates, a new mysterious statue will also be added. By purifying it daily, users can obtain various rewards, including special animals and statues.

Nanali Studio CEO Park Jae-hwan stated, "We actively collected and implemented users' feedback asking for various animals to be added for this spring season commemorative update." He added, "Moving forward, we will continue to establish ourselves as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through continuous updates and events."

Nanali Studio (CEO Jaehwan Park) announced on the 3rd that it has launched a Valentine's Day update for its idle animal healing game 'Forest Island'.

This update adds ▲Valentine's Event Pass ▲Suspicious Statue ▲4 types of Valentine's Packages.

To celebrate a sweet Valentine's Day, Chocolate, Almond, Cherry, and Heart Hedgehogs are coming to Forest Island.

The newly added Suspicious Statue provides rewards when purified daily. Through purification, players can obtain stone decorations, 1 Verreaux's Sifaka monkey, and finally, a monkey statue, among other items.

A 'Special Gift Event' will be held on the official Instagram to celebrate the release of the Valentine's Event Pass. New users who download the game through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store will receive the Baby Rabbit Triplets and 1 Albino Raccoon.

In addition, for users who have completed registration, gifts will be sent to their mailboxes on World Hedgehog Day (February 2) and International Polar Bear Day (February 27).

Jaehwan Park, CEO of Nanali Studio, said, "We actively collected user feedback asking for various animals to be added, leading to this Valentine's update," and added, "Through updates and events, we will establish ourselves as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals."

Forest Island is an idle animal healing game that has surpassed 9 million cumulative downloads and has a rating of 4.7 stars on both major app stores. Its key feature is the 'Relaxation Mode' where players can enjoy beautiful graphics and sounds such as the wind and waves.

(Seoul=NSP News Agency) Reporter Lee Bok-hyeon = Nanali Studio has conducted a New Year's update for 2026 in the idle animal healing game ‘Forest Island’.

This update includes a New Year event pass and additions such as the 2026 Year of the Red Horse, three New Year packages, and New Year's sunrise weather.

The company explained that the ‘energetic and lively red horse’ will appear in the game as the animal theme for the Year of the Red Horse.

In addition, they introduced the ‘sunrise weather’ where you can enjoy a beautiful sunrise.

Nanali Studio announced that to commemorate the release of the New Year's Red Horse Pass, a ‘Winter Special Gift Event’ will be held.

For new users, if they download the app through the App Store and Google Play, they will receive a ‘Baby Bunny Trio’ and ‘one albino raccoon’ as a welcome gift.

Additionally, users who complete registration will receive a gift in their mailbox on World Flying Squirrel Day, the 21st.

Park Jae-hwan, CEO of Nanali Studio, stated, “We have actively listened to users' requests to add various animals, which led to this New Year’s commemorative update,” and added, “We aim to establish a position as a global animal healing game brand that evokes interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through continuous updates and events.”

NSP News Reporter Lee Bok-hyeon (bhlee2016@nspna.com)

ⓒKorea's Economic News Agency NSP News·NSP TV. Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, and AI learning use prohibited.

Nanali Studio (CEO Park Jae-hwan) announced on the 14th that it has carried out a 4th anniversary update for its idle animal healing game, 'Forest Island,' which it developed and is currently servicing. This 4th anniversary update adds the 4th anniversary crying rabbit package, revival of 1st to 3rd anniversary animal packages, 4th anniversary gifts, and 4th anniversary bear statue packages, among other things. To celebrate the 4th anniversary, a 'Special Gift Event' will be held through the official Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/forrestislekr/) for users during the season. 

Additionally, there will be a '4th Anniversary 1+1 Bonus' event where users can receive an additional 100% of the gems purchased in the in-game shop. Furthermore, a limited edition commemorative animal statue for the 4th anniversary, which changes design every year, will be presented as a gift, making it fun to collect.

Moreover, as a welcome gift for new users who download the app through the App Store and Google Play, popular items such as 'The Three Little Baby Rabbits' and 'One Albino Raccoon' will be given.

Additionally, gifts will be sent to users who complete their registration throughout the month of October for World Animal Day (October 4) and National Black Cat Day (October 27).

Parks Jae-hwan, CEO of Nanali Studio, stated, "Thanks to the interest and love from users, we've reached our 4th anniversary," and shared his aspirations, saying, "We will continue to grow as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through ongoing updates and events."

The idle animal healing game 'Forest Island' has surpassed 8 million cumulative downloads and currently holds a rating of 4.7 on Google Play & the App Store. Its features include beautiful graphics and 'relaxation mode' where players can enjoy ASMR sounds of wind and waves.

This game has been selected as 'Game of the Day' on the App Store, 'Essential iPhone Games', 'Popular Games', 'Must-Have Simulation Games', 'Earth Day, a Game Conveying Environmental Awareness', 'Essential Indie Games', and selected as 'Game of the Week' on Google Play. It has also received accolades such as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation for the 'Best Game of the Month' in the functionality game category for the second half of 2022.

'Tiny Cafe' has undergone an anniversary update. On the 2nd, Nanali Studio (CEO Park Jae-hwan) announced that the idle healing game 'Tiny Cafe' has undergone an anniversary update. 'Tiny Cafe' is set in a small café run by barista rat 'Dolce' and cat 'Gusto', where players can operate the café by selling coffee and desserts to cat customers.

Players can install café facilities and create menus to sell to customers. Additionally, they can hire over 30 different types of managers and mouse part-timers with various abilities, and customize the café logo to run their own brand.

Moreover, players can roast beans directly at Gusto's roastery or enjoy a mini-game of hand-drip coffee brewing.

Not only that, but as players build intimacy with the guests, they can check the daily lives of regulars through the cat world’s SNS 'Catbook'. It is also possible to enjoy additional stories through special menu orders.

This anniversary update includes a 1st anniversary event, an autumn season Halloween event, 3 new part-timer skins, 5 manufacturing facility skins, and 2 sets of interior decorations.

Users participating in the 'Pumpkin Challenge' can create Halloween candy baskets with mini candies earned from completing various missions, and can exchange them for interior decorations to beautify their café.

Additionally, by leaving a 1st anniversary message, players can enjoy an event that offers a part-timer skin and a trophy as limited rewards.

A new user event has also been prepared. New download users from the App Store and Google Play will receive the gold-ranked manager 'Great Chef' Raphael and 500 gems.

CEO Park Jae-hwan stated, "This game combines the production and operation experience of the idle healing game 'Forest Island' with global artwork", and expressed, "We will transform into a leading global idle healing game through 'Tiny Cafe'."

Meanwhile, another representative work of Nanali Studio, 'Forest Island', has recorded 8 million cumulative downloads and maintains a rating of 4.7 in both Google Play and the App Store. It features a 'Relaxation Mode' where users can enjoy ASMR sounds. 

This game has been recognized for its artistic merit by various companies and organizations, having been selected as the App Store's 'Game of the Day', 'Essential iPhone Games', 'Popular Games', 'Essential Simulation Games', a game reflecting the spirit of Earth Day and environmental protection, 'Essential Indie Games', selected as Google Play's 'Game of the Week', and received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award for Outstanding Games in the functional game category in the second half of 2022.

Photo = Nanali Studio

Reporter Lee Jeong-beom leejb@xportsnews.com

Nanali Studio announced on the 5th that it has launched an autumn-themed Maple Pass update for its idle animal healing game 'Forest Island,' which is currently in development and service.

This autumn update, where players can collect maple leaves by completing various missions and achievements to ultimately earn a Red-headed Woodpecker as the final reward, includes ▲Autumn Season Maple Pass ▲New Event Pass ▲New animal friends ▲New weather ▲New nature purification features.

The animal friends visiting Forest Island were selected to commemorate autumn, the season of fall foliage, and consist of Red-crested Pochard, Maple Red Panda, Silver Squirrel, Tawny Owl, and Red-headed Woodpecker. Additionally, a new 'Sunset Sea' weather featuring a beautiful sunset has been added.

To celebrate the launch of the Maple Pass, an 'Autumn Special Gift Event' will be held through the official Instagram for users during the autumn season. While previous Special Gift Events were only open to paying users who had made at least one purchase during the season period, this Special Gift Event will expand participation criteria and eligibility to include free-to-play users as well.

Furthermore, for new users who download the app through the App Store and Google Play, the popular 'Baby Rabbit Trio' and 'One Albino Raccoon' will be provided as welcome gifts.

In addition, gifts will be sent via mailbox to users who complete registration during the month of September on World Red Panda Day (16th), World Gorilla Day (24th), and World Rabbit Day (27th).

Nanali Studio, which developed 'Forest Island' with the goal of continuously updating all animals existing in the world—in the sky, on land, and in the sea—signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Forest Welfare Institute under the Korea Forest Service on July 16th.

Through this agreement, 'Forest Island' will pursue various collaborative initiatives including ▲Planning linkages between forest welfare and game content ▲Joint development of content such as carbon neutrality and forest education ▲Game events linked to forest commemoration day campaigns.

As part of this effort, new nature purification features are being added for the first time in this update, with an 'Extinguish Embers' quest added to convey educational messages within the game about the dangers and severity of autumn forest fires.

Moreover, various new endangered animals will be added to raise awareness about the protection of endangered wildlife.

Park Jae-hwan, CEO of Nanali Studio, stated, "Through collaboration with the Korea Forest Welfare Institute, we will further spread the importance of animals and nature together with our users," adding, "We will continue to grow as a global animal healing game brand that awakens interest and love for beautiful nature and animals through continuous updates and events."

Source: Kyunghyang Games (https://www.khgames.co.kr)