ANANTA’s city residents: 100+ NPCs, relationships and recruiting your Yeet Squad

ANANTA has more than 100 residents with their own stories and side quests. Helping them builds relationships, and a strong bond lets you recruit them into your Yeet Squad, which unlocks items, badges and combat abilities. That is how NetEase’s August 2026 press release and Game Informer describe the system; NetEase hasn’t published a list of who can be recruited.

How many residents are there?

More than 100, according to press reports on NetEase’s Gamescom 2026 materials (fact in the registry). Game Informer writes that Chongxiao’s population includes over 100 NPCs with their own stories and side quests, and CGMagazine describes building a Yeet Squad by recruiting 100+ NPCs. NetEase’s own press release only says you meet NPCs with individual stories and quests and gives no number. Whether the count covers Nova City as well as Chongxiao, NetEase hasn’t said.

What do residents do all day?

They go about their lives. NetEase’s 2025 press release promised NPCs with intelligent, lifelike behavior that make the city come alive. At Gamescom 2026 AUTOMATON found the tea village in Chongxiao full of NPCs living their daily lives: people strolling, robots cleaning or even dancing, vendors selling local specialties and people working in the fields. The Famitsu interviewer noticed that NPCs differ in looks, age and behavior and that their placement changes with the time of day (fact in the registry).

The developers told Famitsu that relationships between people matter in a city, so the game has proper interactions with NPCs and stories that involve them; treat NPCs as mere background, they said, and the city looks fake. Some residents draw you into activities: in the village Denfaminicogamer was invited to try roasting tea, as you would be at a tourist spot. The full list of things to do is in what to do in ANANTA.

Can you read their phones?

Yes. NetEase’s 2025 press release lets you snoop on passersby’s phones. At Tokyo Game Show 2025 the IGN Japan reporter peeked at a stranger’s phone and found messages in a chat app; producer Ash said the team is writing a wide range of such content. At Gamescom 2026 the GAME Watch writer picked up a phone a passerby had dropped and found a chat in progress. The phone is also your way into the in-game social network.

How do residents react to you?

They want to be in your shots. At Gamescom 2026 the Denfaminicogamer writer found that the moment the camera came out for a selfie, every passerby tried a different trick to get into the frame. Game Informer lists selfies with citizens among the small interactions that bring fame. In the Launch Date Trailer, people on the street bow to the Captain and hail the Yeet Master (0:48).

Some residents hide quests. In the Tokyo demo the IGN Japan reporter freed a woman from a car trunk, only to find an odd NPC who was playing at being kidnapped. Ash said that interactions with NPCs are part of exploring and that the game has hidden quests and other surprises besides that one.

How do relationships work?

You build them by helping. Game Informer writes that helping residents builds relationships and that a strong bond lets you recruit them (fact in the registry). NetEase’s press release puts it in three steps: build relationships, recruit allies, unlock rewards. The Steam page promises you will forge connections as you build a team of your own, and may befriend some oddballs along the way.

Time together counts as well. Producer Ash Qi told TechRadar that you can invite your favorite character to go shopping, eat at a restaurant, catch a live show or go dancing. At TGS 2025 Ash told IGN Japan that characters keep schedules: each time you grow closer, you learn more about what they do, and once you know a schedule you can meet the character around town (fact in the registry). The question was about playable characters; whether every resident has a schedule, NetEase hasn’t said.

Dengeki Online’s October 2026 summary adds that you meet some characters through side quests and missions, and that gifts can deepen a relationship until a character joins you. It doesn’t say where the gift detail comes from, and we haven’t found it in NetEase’s materials or interviews.

Fame widens the circle. NetEase staff told Famitsu and Pocket Tactics that a bigger following lets you meet more people and grows your team (fact in the registry). How followers work is in how fame works in ANANTA.

What do recruits give you?

Items, badges and combat abilities, according to NetEase’s press release under the heading “Build Your Own Yeet Squad.” Game Informer mentions new combat abilities and items and says recruited citizens join the ACD. What the badges do, NetEase hasn’t explained (relationships with residents).

The name comes from Taffy, who co-founded the Yeet Squad hoping for perks at a million fans; the 2026 press release uses it for the team you build. CGMagazine describes two kinds of recruits: agents who rebuild the ACD, each with their own storyline, exploration and combat, and the 100+ NPCs of the Yeet Squad. Our assessment: the six playable characters in our character guide belong to the first group, and the residents form a wider circle of allies, though Game Informer’s wording puts recruited citizens in the ACD as well. NetEase hasn’t said whether any resident becomes playable (new and upcoming characters).

Hidden martial arts masters

Some residents are more than they seem. Wccftech reports from NetEase’s Gamescom 2026 presentation that martial arts masters hide among ordinary people, such as a man playing with a yo-yo and a neighborhood masseuse, and that finding them brings new abilities, weapons and allies (fact in the registry). What they teach is covered in how combat works in ANANTA.

Which residents has NetEase named?

The official site names five residents in its district sections:

• Victor: a Downtown resident in a superhero costume whose line is “I’ll be your number one fan, through thick and thin!” On the Korean version of the site he promises to be the Yeet Squad’s most reliable supporter.
• Frank Forker: a Downtown hot dog seller with rhyming slogans for Rodriguez hot dogs.
• Tie Shan: a martial arts teacher from Longqi Village, shown sparring with the Captain.
• Arms: a Veluxity Zone fixer who can get you whatever you need.
• Broadcast Goose: a goose at Weilan Lake that shouts Joy Cart Market ads.

The site’s company pages add more people: Lily Leonas, chairman of Aerie Bank; the film director Minajima Kazu of Saturn Entertainment; and Ji Yunzhou, founder of Zenith Project. NetEase’s videos name Lykaia Reign, the fox-eared woman from the 2025 gameplay video, and Mimiko and Ringo, who call for help on a highway in the 2025 gameplay trailer. Whether any of them can be recruited, NetEase hasn’t said.

Switching to other characters

Playable characters have lives of their own too. Producer Ash Qi told GamesRadar in 2025 that a character you switch away from keeps living, and when you come back you see how that life has moved on. When Famitsu switched from the Captain to Taffy at TGS 2025, the camera rose over the city and came down on Taffy grumbling at a vending machine, and a delivery job followed.

Ash told Famitsu that each character has a different job and standing, so the events you run into differ, and a teammate you switch to who happens to be near an incident might be able to rush over and deal with it (switching characters). How each job earns followers is covered in our fame explainer.

What NetEase hasn’t said yet

• The full list of recruitable residents, and whether the 100+ include Nova City.
• Whether recruits can be played or only bring rewards.
• What badges do, and how recruits’ combat abilities differ from moves taught by masters.
• How a relationship is measured or shown, and whether gifts count.
• Whether named residents such as Victor, Frank Forker or Arms can join.
• Whether every resident keeps a schedule or only the main characters.

ANANTA launches on January 15, 2027 on PC, PS5, iOS and Android (fact in the registry).