HoYoverse has opened recruitment for the next closed beta of Honkai: Nexus Anima — and players on PC, iOS, and Android can throw their names in the hat right now. Sign-ups opened on 22 June, with the Evolution Test itself kicking off on 9 July 2026. Trailers are live in English, Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese, confirming this is a global beta — not a Japan-only affair.
What Is Honkai: Nexus Anima?
This is an entirely new HoYoverse franchise — separate from Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai: Star Rail. The game is built around a lore concept called the Nexus: a primordial force that once balanced opposing aspects of existence — light and dark, love and hate. When the Nexus collapsed, fragments of it became living creatures called Anima.
Players take the role of a Dimensional Traveler who escapes captivity and arrives in Iya, a town in the Reality Plane. The core loop is bonding with Anima — naming them, capturing photos, evolving them, and deploying them in strategic battles. Rare Chromatic Anima variants are especially coveted. If you have ever wished Genshin Impact had a Pokémon-style creature-collecting layer, this is worth watching.
What’s New in the Evolution Test
The Evolution Test is a major content jump over earlier testing phases. Three new characters debut in Iya: Nanafey, Bai Mei, and Olympia. Voice actor Akira Ishida (known for roles in Evangelion, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Honkai Impact 3rd) is confirmed as the voice of a character named Otto.
Expanded areas open up in the test, including a New Quarter district of Iya, the Bond Hall, and the Nexus Group building. This is a non-paying, data-wiping closed beta — any progress made will not carry to the final release — so it is purely a chance to get hands-on with HoYoverse’s next big title before everyone else.
How to Apply — Open Right Now
Head to hna.hoyoverse.com and complete the recruitment survey. Final testers are selected by lottery from everyone who pre-registers and submits the survey. You must be 18 or older to apply. The window is open from 22 June, so the sooner you get your entry in, the better your odds ahead of the 9 July start.
The beta runs on PC, Android, and iOS. No SGD pricing has been announced for the final game yet — this remains a test with no confirmed global launch window.
Last words
HoYoverse’s track record in Singapore is hard to argue with — Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero have all charted on the local App Store and Google Play at launch. Honkai: Nexus Anima is gunning for a similar audience: free-to-play, cross-platform, and now layering in creature-collecting mechanics that overlap nicely with the Pokémon GO and Palworld crowd. If you have a HoYoLAB account, applying for the Evolution Test takes two minutes. Check back with GameTrader’s Game News for coverage when the beta goes live on 9 July.