The 4th Anniversary Update Arrives October 29
Level Infinite and SHIFT UP revealed the 4th Anniversary Update for Goddess of Victory: NIKKE in a press release tied to the official livestream on October 24, 2026. The update launches worldwide on October 29 across PC, iOS, and Android. The sci-fi gun-girl action RPG has been downloaded more than 45 million times since launch, and the anniversary content pushes the game into a new story phase while expanding its regional footprint.
Three New Units Split Between Attack and Support
The update adds three new characters. Marian: Queen is an attacker whose description places her in direct competition with the Space Queen for the ultimate prize, with a stated goal of building a world where her companions no longer perish. Scarlet: Goddeath is the upgraded, Eden-enhanced form of the Pilgrim also known as Hongryeon, given a reinforced body and a dark-matter-infused sword forged from her and Jang-hwa’s shattered blades. The press release says that sword can cut through Lilith’s body, which signals a damage-focused combat role. Rapunzel: Sanctuary is the third unit, a support form modeled after a Pope motif.
Rapunzel: Sanctuary is the most structurally important part of the roster reveal. The unit uses Red Shoes’ technology to move quickly across the battlefield, which makes it a high-mobility support rather than a passive healer. Players can claim up to four copies for free through anniversary events. That is a real accessibility decision. In a team-building shooter RPG, a usable support can anchor multiple compositions, and giving away four copies removes a major gacha barrier for players who want a functional support core. SHIFT UP is not locking this anniversary support behind summon currency. Instead, it is using the free SSR to give returning and new players an immediate route into the content while the monetization pressure shifts to the two attacker banners and optional gacha costumes. For an anniversary update, that reads as a retention play: the free unit lowers the entry cost and keeps players engaged long enough to interact with the wider event.
Chapters 49-50 Close the Underground Ark Arc
Main Chapters 49-50 escalate a defensive campaign ahead of the Ark’s surface advance into the full-scale 3rd Surface Recapture War. The press release describes all forces clashing to determine the fate of humanity and states plainly that this chapter marks the conclusion of the Underground Ark plotline. That is a definitive closing beat. The source then explicitly teases a brand-new story chapter to be revealed later. After four years of story built around the Underground Ark, the game is resolving that throughline and pointing toward a different narrative structure. The MARIA-n story event supports this pivot by placing Marian in a sprawling research facility as she awakens in unfamiliar surroundings and takes her first steps across the surface. It functions as a bridge between the closed arc and the new one, giving Marian a personal discovery thread while the main war reaches its conclusion. This is not simply another patch appended to an ongoing conflict. The press release language treats the existing plot as concluded and positions the next chapter as genuinely new, which is a structural pivot for the game’s long-term storytelling.
Costumes, a Visual Novel Minigame, and the Stellar Blade Soundtrack
Four new costumes arrive with the update. The gacha costumes are Marian: Queen’s Last Affection, described as a wedding-dress skin where Marian has attained happiness with her one true love, and Snow White: Heavy Arms’ Lacrimosa. The Battle Pass adds Neon_Vision and Nayuta_Vision. The minigame Fading Affection is a branching, choice-driven text-based visual novel adventure that lets players revisit scattered memory fragments and unlock untold conclusions of her past. That format is lighter in combat and heavier in narrative, which fits the anniversary’s focus on Marian.
The music collaboration with Stellar Blade is titled TRACING THE STARS x Stellar Blade. It includes 22 tracks, four of them free, along with custom note skins, minigame backgrounds, and a special character addition. The specific Stellar Blade character being added is not named in the release. The collaboration extends the anniversary beyond NIKKE’s own cast and gives rhythm-game players a reason to engage with a different part of the event.
Anniversary Rewards and a Global Market Push
Commanders can earn up to 259 free recruitment attempts throughout the event. The 4th Anniversary Nikke Selection Boxes let players choose between Rapunzel: Sanctuary, Chime, Rapunzel: Pure Grace, and Snow White: Innocent Days. That volume of free recruitment attempts pairs with the free SSR support to make the update unusually accessible from a summon economy standpoint.
The update also includes full Spanish text localization, aimed squarely at the LATAM region. It is a full text localization launching at the same time as the anniversary, and it arrives alongside a Times Square takeover on October 29. The billboard will light up One Times Square at 1475 Broadway and 42nd Street for the entire day, with Marian shown across the landmark. There is also an Animate Los Angeles in-store event from October 31 through November 14, with 3D illusion wall art, NIKKE-themed decorations, exclusive merchandise, and community activities. Level Infinite and SHIFT UP are pairing a language accessibility feature with a high-visibility New York media placement and a physical retail event in Los Angeles. The Spanish localization lowers the friction for a large Spanish-speaking player base, while the Times Square billboard is a brand spend aimed at North American attention and media coverage. For a game with 45 million downloads, this is a market-expansion moment. The wider free-to-play market rewards games that reduce entry barriers while buying visibility in high-traffic real-world locations. Yoo Hyongseok, VP of Shift Up and Game Director of NIKKE, said the team is excited to welcome more Spanish-speaking players from the LATAM region and will continue to deliver content for all players.
Confirmed and Not Disclosed
Level Infinite and SHIFT UP confirmed the October 29 launch date, the three new units, the free SSR Rapunzel: Sanctuary with up to four claimable copies, Main Chapters 49-50 as the conclusion of the Underground Ark plotline, the teased brand-new story chapter, the MARIA-n event, the 22-track Stellar Blade soundtrack collaboration, the four costumes, the Fading Affection minigame, up to 259 free recruitment attempts, the selection box options, Spanish localization, the Times Square billboard, the Animate Los Angeles event, and the 45 million download figure.
Not disclosed in the announcement are the exact banner schedule beyond October 29, drop rates for any banner, gacha costume prices for Last Affection and Lacrimosa, the name of the teased brand-new story chapter, and the specific character being added through the Stellar Blade collaboration.
