SS5 Summer Surprise runs to 10 August
Shanghai, China — June 11, 2026 | XD Games is thrilled to announce that the new Etheria: Restart season – SS5 Summer Surprise – begins today and will run to 10 August 2026. In addition to five new playable Animus, this brand new season will usher in a new difficulty option, a new boss fight, and an in-game community-led build recommendation system.
Watch the SS5 Summer Surprise trailer below:
To lend a helping hand to new players coming into the world of Etheria: Restart, the Main Quest UI has been overhauled in favour of a streamlined, more understandable linear stage path featuring the prologue and main story missions. Main Quest now has a new Hard Mode, too, which will provide a difficulty spike for players seeking more of a test, as well as greater rewards for those who complete challenges.
As part of Summer Surprise, the Grim Pursuit challenge mode is getting a new boss in the form of Vespera. By taking on the Doom Sea adversary, players can obtain powerful Module Matrices: Overflow grants a shield to all allies at the beginning of a battle; Profanation deals increased damage to shielded targets; Virulent Toxin depletes an enemy’s HP after a debuff has been successfully applied; Chasing Dawn boosts a player’s Turn Meter after using non-offensive skills; Unyielding Oath increases damage reduction; and Ebullition Strike raises attack power when repeatedly striking the same enemy within a single turn.
Watch the SS5 preview below:
From today, every Grim Pursuit stage that drops Mythic Shells will also have a new extra-hard Abyss difficulty option, which will allow players to farm Shells directly. However, once the new Matrices go live, players will be able to equip them onto the Mythic Shells they already own, meaning they can upgrade their current gear from the beginning of Summer Surprise.
Before SS5, very basic gear recommendations for Animus appeared on the upgrade screen. This feature has been completely reworked in favour of something much deeper: Strategy Guides. Players looking for tips can now inspect the Animus builds of others via the Guides Plaza; alternatively, they can help others by sharing their own. This will aid players looking for the best combination of Shells, Module Matrices, and Imprint Components for their chosen Animus.
Watch the New Animus Nathenn trailer below:
Five new Animus will join Etheria: Restart during SS5, starting today with Nathenn and Sylvia. The kinetic HP-based damage dealer Nathenn — the Fifth Warden of Elysian — can break through enemy lines with ease thanks to his high speed stats; artist Sylvia, meanwhile, is a support Animus, capable of simultaneously attacking an enemy with her brush, while reducing the skills cooldown of allies.
Additional Animus will come to Etheria: Restart throughout SS5, such as priestess pharmacologist Areal, who will be available from 2 July. The final Animus drop of this season comes on 23 July, with the arrival of Piayera and Danvery. Further details on these characters will be revealed closer to their respective dates on Etheria: Restart’s social channels.
Watch the New Animus Sylvia trailer below:
For more on everything mentioned above, as well as news on skins, outfits, and the new Ruin Hegemony boss rush mode coming later this season, you can watch the Hypertalk Ep. 8: SS5 Season Preview on the official Etheria: Restart YouTube channel. Additionally, you can check out the full patch notes and balance adjustments for SS5 on the official website.
Etheria: Restart is available to play for free now on PC, iOS, and Android.
About XD Games
Founded in 2003, XD Games is a global video games developer and publisher with extensive experience across development, publishing and operations. As of 2022, XD has 38 free-to-play and paid games with over 50 million monthly active users worldwide. In addition, TapTap — a mobile games community and app store — was launched by XD in 2016 and is estimated to currently have 44 million monthly active users. XD’s mission is to assemble like-minded talented games industry craftspeople with a common goal of touching the hearts of players around the world. XD produces games of the finest quality with passion, offering a pure gaming experience, and encouraging players of all ages to embrace the unique joy of video gaming.
