Every announcement from the Arknights 6th Anniversary Livstream: New Operators, Events, Rewards, and more

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Story Highlights

  • Hoshiguma The Breacher will be the limited unit of the anniversary banner.
  • We are getting 10 Headhunting permits during the anniversary
  • Side story ATO is going to be the main focus of the anniversary

Arknights, the popular strategy RPG, is celebrating its 6th Anniversary globally from January 16th to February 13th, 2026. This article will cover all the important details and announcements revealed during the anniversary livestream.

To celebrate the anniversary, we’re adding exciting new prizes and rewards! If you’re a fan of Arknights, you won’t want to miss out. This year’s event will highlight both the new Operator, Haruka, and the popular Operator, Hoshiguma, with a story set in the Yan region of Higurashi.

I’m excited to see the story unfold and discover what Mitsukue looks like in the Higurashi universe. This update introduces four new Operators: the 5-star Operators Matsukiri and Kichisei, and the 6-star Operators Haruka and Hoshiguma The Breacher, who is the featured limited-time unit.

Arknights 6th Anniversary Celebrations: All you need to know

Arknights brings Carnival Side Story limited event Ato

Ato is a special event in Arknights, part of a larger summertime story arc celebrating the game’s 6th Anniversary. It’s the 38th side story and the fifth event in the ‘Summertime Beats’ series. To participate, players need to have completed the first 10 stages of the main story.

Completing all Archive missions rewards 40 Originite Prime, which is a key currency used for pulling on banners and purchasing outfits. Operators featured on the current banner will also earn Trust 50% faster during this event.

Fourth Carnival Headhunting banner: Hanabi Exiled

Players can do one free headhunting pull each day on the Hanabi, Exiled banner, letting them earn over 20 free pulls simply by logging in. These daily pulls don’t carry over, so be sure to use them before the day resets. Also, Hanabi Exiled means Ch’en the Holungday is no longer available in the secondary rate-up for Carnival limited Operators.

Okay, so while the Hanabi event is going on, I can grab one free Headhunting Permit – that gets me 10 free pulls! If I want to directly trade Headhunting Contracts, it takes 300 to get either Hoshiguma or Haruka. And good news – they’ve lowered the price for Ch’en the Holungday in the store to just 200 contracts now, which is awesome!

Arknights 6th anniversary rewards

We’re celebrating our 6th anniversary with tons of rewards! Even before the official celebration begins, players are receiving gifts in their inbox, including 1200 Orundum, resources to level up Operators, and two free Headhunting Permits.

Let me break them down on what we are getting during the 6th anniversary so far.

  • Free 10x Headhunting permit with 20 daily free pulls.
  • Free Top Operator activity transfer permit (Bagpipe, Surtr, Eyja, or Saria).
  • Free outfit voucher for any 18 Originite Prime or below-priced outfits.
  • Free Senior Operator activity transfer permit, with which you can choose any of the 5 star operator.
  • Limited 5 Star Operator Savage is claimable during the anniversary event phase.
  • During the Enmusubi Wishing Wall event, you can log in to claim a random number of Orundum every day till the Hanabi Exiled banner runs.

Outfits for Operators

Ch’en the Holungday is receiving a holiday-themed outfit, affectionately nicknamed ‘Tourist C’ by players who first saw it during a beach event. Pepe will also be getting a new outfit, and Thorns is receiving his very first animated 2D outfit.

Necrass and May are receiving new outfits, and you can get them for free using your outfit voucher. Otherwise, they’ll cost 18 Originite Prime.

Final Thoughts

Both longtime and new players are celebrating special rewards during this anniversary, and fans are thrilled that Hoshiguma Alter is finally being released after years of waiting. With the upcoming game, Arknights: Endfield, on the way, the community hopes Hypergryph will continue to deliver enjoyable experiences.

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2026-01-12 13:12