HoYoverse’s Animal Crossing-like Petit Planet Has ‘Striking Similarities’ to Early Access VR Game Little Planet, Dev Alleges

VR developer VRWOOD is “exploring all possible options” to protect its IP after claiming that HoYoverse’s upcoming Animal Crossing-like game, Petit Planet, bears “striking similarities” to its own game, Little Planet.

Little Planet launched on Meta Quest just last week, after releasing in early access back in November of 2023. The game is an Animal Crossing-like VR life sim sandbox where players can craft customizable decorations and customize…well, a little planet, make friends with talking animal neighbors, dress up, play games, fish, and interact online with other players via a multiplayer planet known as the StarNexus.. While developer VRWOOD has acknowledged the game’s similarities to Animal Crossing, he’s said the real inspiration for it was the 1943 French story The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Which is sort of interesting, VRWOOD pointed out to us, because The Little Prince was exactly what we thought of when we previewed Petit Planet last week, having never heard of Little Planet prior. Like Little Planet, Petit Planet is also a life sim sandbox game that takes place on a small planet, features Animal Crossing-like gameplay, animal residents, crafting and customization, and even online features letting you craft and play alongside friends, similarly taking place on a separate multiplayer planet known as the Galactic Bazaar. The biggest difference seems to be a higher budget and Little Planet being a VR game, but VRWOOD told us that it has plans for PC, console, and even mobile releases down the line. Petit Planet is currently announced for PC and mobile. Both games are free-to-play

Most critical, though, is Little Planet’s claim that it got here first. Little Planet entered early access in November of 2023 and officially launched just last week, while Petit Planet’s trademark was registered in October of 2024, the game itself wasn’t announced until this past September, and it isn’t yet out. What’s more, even though it’s out in beta form, it sounds like it may still need some development time, given the reports that the beta still includes AI-generated text.

“We are disheartened to find that, only days after the release of Little Planet, a major publisher and developer has announced a game with striking similarities ranging from the name, setting, and features to even the stated inspiration,” said Frank Zhaung, CEO of VRWOOD and Little Planet creative director. “Little Planet has been available in early access since November 15, 2023, nearly a full year prior to HoYoverse filing a trademark application on October 31, 2024. We are exploring all possible options to protect our intellectual property and future plans, which include releases on mobile devices, as well as PC and console.”

IGN has reached out to HoYoverse for comment.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.