Aniimo, a free game from Chinese studio Pawprint, drew 127,914 concurrent players on Steam right at launch on September 15, 2026, before settling into mixed reviews (68% positive out of more than 4,500 ratings three days later). Its strength: Fusion, which lets you embody the creatures directly. Its flaw: a gacha-like economy bolted on right after the tutorial.
Aniimo's launch key art, released September 15, 2026. © Pawprint Studio
What is Aniimo, the new game that looks like Pokémon?
Aniimo is a free open-world RPG where you explore, catch and evolve creatures called Aniimo, a setup lifted straight from Pokémon. Built by Chinese studio Pawprint, based in Hangzhou, it launched on September 15, 2026 on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, with a mobile version due a week later.
The game stands out through its setting, the continent of Idyll, an open map of flowering fields, autumn forests and coastal cliffs, and through creatures with anglicized names like Emberpup, Stellarys or Witchin. This isn't a DLC or a mod: Pawprint is building its own universe, with its own mascot and its own combat system, even while borrowing the formula that has driven the Japanese franchise's success since 1996.
How many players did Aniimo draw at launch?
Aniimo topped 127,914 concurrent players on Steam the day after release, a figure tracked by several accounts that specialize in Steam statistics. For a studio still largely unknown in the West, that is a bigger opening than most current AAA releases manage.
Fusion also works outside combat: here, carrying a creature to clear an obstacle. © Pawprint Studio
That total only covers Steam: the game also runs on the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, with no public counter shared across all four platforms, and the mobile release on September 23 could push real audience numbers well higher. Three days after launch, on September 18, Steam's live concurrent count still hovered around 105,000 players, a solid plateau for a free-to-play title that hasn't even reached mobile yet.
Why are Aniimo's Steam reviews still mixed?
Three days after launch, Aniimo sits at 68% positive across more than 4,500 Steam reviews, landing it in the "Mixed" category. The number is climbing: it stood at 58% on release day, then 65% on September 18, a sign that the harshest first-day reactions dilute as the player base grows.
The continent of Idyll and its wildlife, one of the traits players actually praise. © Pawprint Studio
The complaints that come up most: a gacha-like economy that kicks in right after the tutorial, movement and jumping described as imprecise, and a combat system called too generic to match the rest of the game. The studio does earn credit for its art direction, the pack of creatures that tags along during exploration, and above all the Housing system, which lets players farm, craft and decorate a space where captured Aniimo live and grant passive bonuses. For a free-to-play title launched on four platforms the same day, this isn't a botched debut, more the cost of ambitions wider than what the game currently delivers.
How does Fusion, the mechanic that replaces Pokémon-style battling, work?
Fusion lets you embody the bonded creature directly, instead of standing back like a Pokémon trainer issuing orders. Once fused, you fight, glide, dig, swim or dive using the Aniimo's own body, a trick also used to solve environmental puzzles and unlock new areas of the map.
The Emberpup, Flameruff, Scorchhowl line and its playable fused form. © Pawprint Studio
This is the clearest structural break from the Pokémon formula, where combat always stays delegated to the creature while the player watches from the sidelines. Lifting a cloud-like sheep creature overhead to clear an obstacle, or charging into a raid against a winged boss as a blazing wolf, has no direct equivalent in a Game Freak title. It also makes fights against the game's biggest creatures read more clearly on screen than a simple turn-based exchange of moves.
A night raid against a winged boss, experienced through Fusion rather than as a bystander. © Pawprint Studio
| Criteria | Aniimo | Pokémon franchise (main games) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (free-to-play) | Paid, 40 to 60 EUR per game |
| Business model | Cosmetics and paid items after the tutorial | No purchase required to play, occasional paid DLC |
| Platforms | PC, PS5, Xbox Series, mobile from 09/23/2026 | Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 only |
| Combat | Fusion: the player embodies the creature | Delegated combat, orders given from a distance |
| Multiplayer | Online co-op and PvP, cross-platform | Online trades and battles, no shared world |
| Track record | Pawprint's first game of this scale, released 09/15/2026 | Franchise launched in 1996, turning 30 in 2026 |
Should Pokémon fans bother with Aniimo?
I haven't tested Aniimo myself, I sell lamps shaped after the other franchise, not Steam keys. But reading through the specialized press and player feedback, the picture that emerges is consistent: a game generous in substance (open world, Fusion, Housing) and not yet polished enough in execution (an interface described as cluttered, a rigid structure, intrusive monetization). None of that is unusual for a free-to-play launch, most games in the genre either get fixed over the following months or collapse without patches.
The care put into creature design, one of the traits reviewers compare with Pokémon. © Pawprint Studio
For a curious player, getting in costs nothing and carries no financial risk as long as you ignore the shop. For anyone hoping for a real Pokémon rival worth losing hours to, the answer depends less on what the game offers today than on what Pawprint fixes in the coming weeks. While we wait to see whether Scorchhowl ever inspires a piece of merchandise, our Vulpix Crystal LED Pokéball remains the only Fire-type fox in our catalog, lit all night without waiting on a server patch. And for the original franchise's own winged boss, the Dragonite LED Pokéball on a wood stand switches on with no queue and no internet connection.
The real next generation of Pokémon is also on its way, on Switch 2 in 2027: we covered the reveal of Pokémon Winds and Waves ourselves, with its own starters and its own open world.
Where and when can you play Aniimo?
Aniimo has been available since September 15, 2026 on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, as a free download. The iOS and Android versions follow on September 23, 2026, a week after the rest of the platforms, giving the servers time to absorb the bulk of the launch rush before mobile players, typically the biggest wave, show up.
Aniimo's roster, featuring creatures like Emberpup, Celestis, Stellarys or Witchin. © Pawprint Studio
The game is localized in thirteen languages, and offers online co-op and PvP with cross-platform multiplayer between PC and consoles. No date has been announced, however, for a possible release on Nintendo Switch or Switch 2. Our collection of crystal light-up Pokéballs stays available year-round, with no server status to check.
Frequently asked questions about Aniimo
Is Aniimo really free?
Yes, Aniimo is a free-to-play game on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series: access and the main story cost nothing. The game does sell cosmetic items and progress boosters through a gacha-like system that unlocks after the tutorial, which fuels much of the negative feedback.
Will Aniimo come to Nintendo Switch?
Nothing has been announced so far. Aniimo was built for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, and the Switch wasn't part of the September 15, 2026 launch, a choice several industry watchers link to other recent Chinese games that likewise skipped Nintendo's console.
Can you play Aniimo with friends?
Yes. The Steam page lists online co-op, PvP and cross-platform multiplayer between PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, alongside solo play. That's something Pokémon still doesn't offer outside of standard battles and trades.
Who developed Aniimo?
Chinese studio Pawprint, based in Hangzhou. Aniimo is its first game of this scale, released straight into free-to-play across multiple platforms rather than as a traditional paid title, a wide launch strategy that partly explains the first-day player spike.
Is Aniimo coming to mobile?
Yes, iOS and Android versions are set for September 23, 2026, exactly a week after the PC and console launch. Given how much of Pokémon GO's audience lives on mobile, that release is likely what decides whether Aniimo sticks around long term.
Is Aniimo just a Pokémon clone?
It borrows the core loop: explore, catch, evolve, battle. But the comparison stops there, Fusion, which lets you embody the creature directly instead of staying on the sidelines, has no equivalent in any Pokémon game. Players' real complaint isn't the resemblance so much as the monetization layered on top of it.
Image credits: Pawprint Studio, official screenshots and artwork published on Steam. Sources: store.steampowered.com, Steam Community, jeuxvideo.com, TechRadar, Vice, Nintenderos.
