Tencent's 'Genshin Impact' Rival Project 'NXS' Halted, Lead Developer He Jia Reassigned

Recent reports indicate that 'NXS,' a highly anticipated project from Tencent's TiMi Studio intended to rival 'Genshin Impact,' has been halted. As a key piece of Tencent’s 'Moon Landing' initiative, the project famously brought on board He Jia, the former technical director at miHoYo and a key figure behind 'Honkai Impact 3rd.' TiMi had promised a massive budget exceeding $100 million to build a AAA-level anime-style open-world game.

The reality, however, proved harsher than the ambition. Development stalled due to the extreme technical challenges posed by the Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), which resulted in significant schedule delays. Coupled with Tencent’s current corporate-wide 'cost reduction and efficiency improvement' mandate, this high-stakes project was ultimately shelved. The original development team has been reassigned to other projects, and He Jia has been moved to a new role. Industry observers are now questioning the feasibility of Tencent’s earlier bold declaration to produce global-standard, world-class games within 5-8 years.

The community reaction was immediate. Players used the Chinese idiom 'Oranges from the South of the Huai River are sweet; from the North, they are sour' to suggest that the same talent produced different results due to the company environment. Many users pointed out that UE5 might currently be a 'version trap' for mobile developers, lacking mature plugins and plagued by bugs. Others took the opportunity to mock the industry's widespread struggle with 'cost-cutting' measures, while some noted that previous anonymous leaks about the project’s internal turmoil seem to have been accurate all along.