Japanese AI firm ZEALS announced the semi-domestic small humanoid D1 on August 5. Priced from 5 million yen, it stands 129.3cm tall, matching Doraemon's height, and is designed for indoor use in medical, manufacturing, logistics, and hotel settings. Sales reception opened the same day.
Shanghai-based Dipal showed the Dipal D1, a cylindrical desktop pod with an 8-inch 2.5K curved OLED display, at ChinaJoy 2026. It runs an 8-core 7nm SoC, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a battery, handling real-time conversation with Japanese support and reading gestures through a camera. Users can load their own VRM, FBX, GLTF, and 2D models. The price is around 160,000 yen.
South Korean indie studio CherryPicker has released the July development update for D1AL-ogue+, the sequel to its free narrative puzzle game D1AL-ogue. The new game is not an epilogue or simple expansion, but a full story set six months after the events of the original. Players again manage a repair clinic in the cyberpunk city of Chroma City, fixing girl-type androids known as Electronic Life Forms (E.V.E). In the sequel, protagonist Chris and his sister Michelle become involved in an incident that must be resolved within one month, with the story focusing on the choices they make and the truths they uncover in that limited time. Development is progressing well: additional work on individual character stories is nearly complete, new characters are still in production, and controller support is being implemented with player feedback incorporated. The team is also organizing story content and preparing for localization. The original D1AL-ogue remains free on Steam, where it has earned an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating from over 4,300 user reviews, 97% of which are positive.
HOUND13's open-world action RPG "Dragon Sword: Awakening" was delayed on July 23, 2026, just one hour before its scheduled 7:00 AM JST Steam release. The developer announced the postponement at 6:00 AM JST, citing incomplete Steam application review. HOUND13 stated that review feedback had been addressed and the game was awaiting final approval, with a new release date to be announced once confirmed. The delay follows a legal dispute between HOUND13 and former publisher Webzen over unpaid royalties and contract termination, which led to the game being rebuilt as a buy-to-play title without gacha. The Seoul Central District Court rejected Webzen's injunction to block the release on July 22. The game is priced at 3,480 yen for the Standard Edition and features 19 playable heroes, a party combo action system, and exploration with collectible familiars inspired by "Breath of the Wild." HOUND13 plans post-launch content including four new heroes and a Sky Island region. The game currently has Korean voice acting with Japanese subtitles; the developer expressed interest in adding Japanese dubbing but cited cost and time constraints.
South Korean developer Hound13 announced on June 18 that the anime-style open-world action RPG "Dragon Sword: Awakening" will launch on PC via Steam on July 23, 2026 at 7:00 AM JST. The game is a premium standalone title, restructured from the live-service "DragonSword" after Hound13 terminated its publishing contract with Webzen in February 2026, citing unpaid fees. Webzen has disputed the termination and filed a preliminary injunction to block Hound13's self-publishing, but Hound13 maintains it holds independent service rights as the developer and copyright holder. The premium version removes all gacha elements, making all playable characters and core content obtainable through gameplay. The regular price is 3,400 yen, with a Deluxe Edition including a digital art book and soundtrack also planned. A free demo covering the first chapter is available on Steam until June 24 at 2:00 AM JST. A launch celebration event runs from July 23 to August 31, offering the "Abyssal Direwolf" Familiar DLC for free. The game features a tag-action battle system with 19 heroes, each with unique status ailment abilities, and supports multiplayer hunts and raids.
HOUND13 will release a free demo of the premium open-world RPG DragonSword: Awakening on Steam from June 5 to June 24. The demo covers Chapter 1 of eight, features 9 of 19 playable heroes, and offers about 1-2 hours of play. It was originally planned as an early media build but is now public. Save data does not carry over to the full game.
CherryPicker, the Korean indie team behind the free-to-play android repair adventure D1AL-ogue, announced in a May development diary that the sequel D1AL-ogue+ will launch a crowdfunding campaign around summer 2026. The studio previously reported budget shortages and living difficulties due to the free release model, and had been exploring crowdfunding options after confirming Kickstarter is unavailable in South Korea. The development diary also states the sequel's initial planning and content schedule are finalized, with roughly 20 characters planned.