If you’re not yet tired of anime-style gacha games, add one more to the list – Arknights: Endfield. This upcoming free-to-play sci-fi title is a part action RPG, part base-building strategy game, similar to the Rune Factory and recent Fallout titles.
It’s a spinoff of the 2019 Arknights, a mobile tower-defense game. Arknights: Endfield takes place in Talos 2, a catastrophic planet colonized by pioneers from Terra, the setting of the first game. You play as the Endministrator of the Endfield Industries, whose job is to fight blighted enemies, build the AIC factory, and manage the Endfield Industries’ headquarters.
All gameplay features of Arknights: Endfield have their own appeal, and whether you’re interested in one or the other, you’re in the right place. We dive into everything you need to know about Arknights: Endfield, including its release date, pre-registration rewards, characters, early impressions, and more.
When is Arknights Endfield release date?
- Beta 2 (PC & Mobile): November 27, 2025
- Full Release (PC, PS5, Mobile): Early 2026
Arknights: Endfield is targeting an early 2026 launch on PC, PS5, and mobile devices. A technical test is currently underway on PS5. No end time is confirmed, but all character data will be wiped once it’s over. Additionally, beta test 2 for PC and mobile kicks off on November 27, 2025.
There’s also a rumor swirling about a potential public test for Arknights: Endfield, possibly for January 2026, but nothing is confirmed as of this writing.
All Arknights: Endfield pre-registration rewards
You can now pre-register Arknights: Endfield on the following platforms:
Pre-registration milestone rewards include:
- 15,000,000: T-Creds x30,000
- 20,000,000: Advanced Combat Record x20
- 25,000,000: Basic HH Permit x5
- 30,000,000: 5-star Operator (Snowshine)
- 35,000,000: Basic HH Permit x10
Additionally, Arknights: Endfield’s social media milestone rewards for reaching 5 million followers (it’s a long road ahead) include:
- 5-star weapon (Finishing Call)
- Basic HH Permit x5
What is the story of Arknights: Endfield?
Arknights Endfield takes place in the vibrant but blight-infested world of Talos 2. The story focuses on Endfield Industries and their goal for expansion as you build and develop each region along the way.
Endfield’s real-time combat is slightly different from the traditional action gacha games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves. Much like those games, you control a party of four, but they are on the field at all times.
You can switch freely between characters to utilise their skills and coordinate attacks to make the most out of a situation. Meanwhile, other units will use basic attacks on nearby enemies, like in Tales of Arise. Skill gauge is shared between four operators, and once it’s full, you can unleash up to three tactical skills from anyone’s arsenal.
The Automated Industry Complex, or base building, is another vital aspect of gameplay. It’s also what separates Arknights: Endfield from most gacha games. You can mine resources, set up facilities to process raw materials, generate electricity, and create gear, food, and other useful materials. To automatically move resources between areas, you can set up transporter belts and depot buses.
You can also create ziplines (Kojima approves) to travel between facilities and locations in the game. It’s worth noting that factory building isn’t necessarily an optional feature in Arknights: Endfield, and you will have to indulge in it to a degree to farm resources for Operators and weapons.
All Arknights: Endfield operators–who’s the most appealing?
Hypergryph has revealed 24 operators (including male and female versions of Endministrator) in Arknights: Endfield. All these characters have standard anime gacha designs–a cat-eared soft boy, a snazzy leather-jacket donning panda, a silver-haired shorty who looks like Silver Wolf’s sister from Honkai Star Rail; you know the type.
So far, none of the character designs look unique or gorgeous enough to spend real money on. They are very reminiscent of the launch designs of Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves characters.
Operators such as Laevatain, Yvonne, Xaihi, and Wulfgard may raise some eyebrows, but they will likely be part of the standard banner. In fact, most of the Operators mentioned above look to be free-to-earn or part of the standard banner.
This isn’t something to worry about, as most successful gacha games drastically improve their character designs with subsequent updates (we are looking at you, Chisa from Wuthering Waves).
Is Arknights: Endfield worth playing? Early impressions overview
Early Arknights: Endfield beta impressions from critics and fans seem fairly positive. Most people are impressed by the English voice acting, the gorgeous locales of Valley IV, character synergies, and the overall feel of the combat.
That said, some players experienced technical difficulties in the recent beta test, with blurry visuals and frame-rate dips being major concerns on PC. From what we have seen so far, combat encounters can get a little chaotic with all party members swarming in to get a taste of the action. Furthermore, character AI can be messy, with allies seldom ignoring enemies during combat.
The AIC system is dense, with plenty of ways to build and manage your factory. Most critics think it’s the standout aspect of the game, in which you can sink hundreds of hours easily. As mentioned above, it’s tied heavily to the other elements of the game, so you can’t simply ignore it. You will need to build your factory to farm gear, character materials, consumables, and so forth.
In completely different news, Arknights Endfield seems to be getting review bombed on bilibili ahead of beta test 2. Apparently, some veteran Arknights players were disappointed over losing beta invites to new players. Reddit user Fireboss365 explains that it might not be favouritism towards non-Arknights players, but just sheer coincidence.
Overall, Arknights is shaping up to be an ambitious gacha game with plenty of unique and substantial stuff on offer. We still don’t know much about its monetisation model, and those early Operator designs can be a hit or miss, but everything else seems promising so far.
