u/PsyduckPsyker

*The above image was produced by Pawprint/FunPlus in advertising for Aniimo. This is an AI image, they themselves admitted to.

Hello! I wanted to create a bit of info-dump surrounding the monster-taming game Aniimo, and specifically detail some concerning issues about the game that I've since learned after playing it for some time. I will detail FunPlus, the kernel level anti-cheat, and AI usage. This post for Steam is a condensed (if you can believe it) re-post from another community where I detail how to remove the trackers, more research and proof into the AI generated song "Neon Lights".

This is not meant to dissuade your fun, this is meant to educate those of you that are curious. What you do with your free time is your right.

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Who is FunPlus?

• FunPlus is a videogame developer and publisher. They are the primary publisher and backers for Aniimo/Pawprint Studio.
• Febuary 2021, FunPlus Phoenix League of Legends team admitted to match-fixing. Reference: here
• FunPlus reacted by throwing litigation threats. Reference: here
• FunPlus was forced by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to retract ads for stealing footage from other games (Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord) Reference: here
• The ASA, in 2023, censured FunPlus for an ad in the game Stormshot: Isle of Adventure, for putting an ad out that depicted assault on a sleeping character. Reference: here
• FunPlus may have violated consumer protection laws. FunPlus sold players paid bundles while an unusually generous reward outcome was active, allowed purchases for days, then declared the rewards erroneous and retroactively confiscated rewards/resources players had already gotten. Game- DC: Dark Legion. Reference: here
• Most companies have some form of scandal or another, this is not unique to FunPlus.

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FunPlus, the Gui Long Chao Scandal

• FunPlus was caught using fake pull rates, and a few Chinese content creators called it out. Instead of addressing it, FunPlus sent legally threatening documents to these creators to silence them. This act completely destroyed the reputation of the game/developer right out of the gate.
• September 2025 (last year, people!), FunPlus promised users of the game that they would never shut the game down, and sold "forever-passes" for the game. Then, in December, less than 15 months after launch, the game shut down abruptly and without warning. Reference: here

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Aniimo's Aggressive bot Marketing

• Aniimo bombarded spaces in China with bot marketing, targeting any tag they could, and even going into Roco Kingdom communities. Reference: here
• Aniimo has been accused of astroturfing with bots, especially in China.
• Botting is commonplace, you all know this.

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Aniimo AI Usage

• Aniimo developers claimed they only used AI on the backend for development.
• This was immediately proven false. Aniimo pumped out advertising on Facebook that was clearly generative AI. Reference: here
• AI assets in-game. Reference: here
• Zhang Zhiwei, a composer for FunPlus, admits on the FunPlus webpage that they utilize AI audio in videogames. Seen here
• Aniimo does not disclose this on their Steam page, as required by Steam policy.
• Going to Aniimo's Discord, I combed their 'wallpaper' section, and scanned each image. Most were identified as AI modified or AI generated. Go look for yourself.

AI Music Rant (More evidence to the claim)

• Aniimo's song "Neon Lights" is very clearly Suno generated.
• Examining the original songs under a spectrogram shows clear evidence of AI generated music.
• Detect.Music ran "Neon Lights", the male and female songs, and came back 99% positive for AI generation, and specifically remarked on it being Suno generated. Again, Steam requires disclosure. Reference: here
• Ran "Neon Lights" through four other known AI detection scanners, all came back 100% generative AI and many that could, specifically pointed at Suno. Gemini was not even moderate about the response, it outright stated "This is AI generated, it is not real."

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Aniimo's Anti-cheat Issues/Trackers

• Aniimo released, and users noticed in the start-up sections of their PC, there were two new startup entries.
• Users tracked these start-up actions to the PC's registry, where it was uncovered that there are two entries; AF_counter_pc### and AF_uuid_pc### (The AF is important).
• Aniimo released kernel level anti-cheat and did not inform the users.
• Their EULA makes no mention of it (I read it fully) and there is no way to opt out of any of this.
• Steam requires that all games state that they are using kernel anti-cheat (NEP), and this was not disclosed on their Steam page until October 1st, two weeks after release, when users discovered it.
• Trackers are NORMAL in games, this needs to be stated up-front.

What is AF_counter_pc / AF_uuid_pc?

• These are marketing and analytics trackers.
• They are tied to a company called AppsFlyer, an Israeli data broker.
• AppsFlyer was labeled as an accomplice to data violations, passing illegally obtained information to other platforms (apps).
• Users of Flo Health sued Google, Meta, Flurry, and AppsFlyer, stating that the app included SDK's (software development kit) that transmit personal information. Reference: here
• AppsFlyer was omitted from the suit, however, the case brought to light AppsFlyer's technology as a mechanism used by app developers to leak sensitive medical telemetry.
• Removal of these two entries will not work if you continue playing Aniimo. Upon re-launch the game will inject them again.
• When uninstalling the game, users report that the two entries do not leave the system, and act as zombie entries. See reddit posts that will assist with removal, be careful messing with your registry.
• Update: I personally checked my registry for the two entries listed. I then uninstalled Aniimo, and they did not leave my system. I rebooted my PC, and the entries are still there. Manual removal is required.

Monetization

• Aniimo claims they are not a gatcha game, and developer talks revealed that the Aniimo dev team specifically wanted to emulate Warframe. Reference: here
• Nearing launch, Aniimo stated that they were changing an event because it was, shockingly, too RNG and resource draining.
• The battle-pass contains Fulmantis Prismana, users cannot get Fulmantis Prismana for at least two more seasons in-game. Fulamantis is one of, if not the best, DPS in the game. Reference: here
• Users can get the base Fulmantis, but not the Prismana version.
• Prismana Fulmantis has 6 resisted elements, base has 3. Reference: here
• Less than a month after launch, the Irisalis event goes live. It is a gatcha style roll system for cosmetically modifying a legendary Aniimo. You roll on 'sections' of the Aniimo hoping to get 'parts' of her.
• You cannot 'keep' what you get, but instead use save-states for a current appearance. Aniimo then releases a second gatcha event for an elf outfit. Users roll for tickets, to purchase parts of the cosmetic.
• Early data-mined information leaked that the elf cosmetic event (second event) might have had a pity system of 1,800$USD, causing the Discord to get flooded with feedback about it.
• The elf ears were originally a styling option in character creation, they ripped it out after beta and have now monetized it. The ears, specifically, were not done correctly, and do not match skin-tone of avatars, and also clip through existing ears on the avatar.
• The shop is expensive. Prismana Orbs (used to make an Aniimo a Prismana) cost 50$USD. Special Sparkly Cubes are 15$. One can argue this is cosmetic or just fun.
• Sparkly Cubes guarantee an Aniimo has perfect IV's, directly relating to paid-power.
• There is no regional pricing model for the shop. This negatively impacts people from other countries.
• The game values the earned currency, glimmer, at the same cost-point as the paid currency. Meaning that if you wish to purchase an item with glimmer you do not have, the game will offer you to purchase it with the paid currency at a 1:1 ratio. This means that things like changing your character's face, body, make-up, hair dye, can cost 3.33$USD each time. Re-charging your energy bar can cost at least 33$.