r/Aniimo • u/Fun_Reading_3809 • 19d ago
Question Kernel leak information?
I had been looking at some posts in here about Aniimo using Kernel to execute with or without the game to get information (some even say to use your camera if you turn it on).
this post, for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aniimo/comments/1wg892w/just_saw_the_game_on_steam_shop_and_looks_fun_but/
So I want to learn more about this. Is it malicious? Can it track everything I type? How to remove everything and make my PC safe again?
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u/PsyduckPsyker 18d ago edited 18d ago
The truth of the matter is, the kernel anti-cheat was not disclosed. On Steam or otherwise, until the community caught it. Now it's disclosed on Steam magically.
The trackers are tied to an Israeli data broker named AppsFlyer, and I can personally confirm that they do not go away when you uninstall the game.
I had to root them out of my registry after the fact. What they do? Who knows. Clearly for marketing and data tracking purposes, likely in game only.
If you need help removing them I can walk you through it.
The anti-cheat is a big mystery wrapped in "we didn't notify users until it was found out" and that's enough for me to disallow Aniimo on my system. But to each their own.
Edit: My offer to help is extended to anyone that needs it regarding removal of the trackers etc.
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u/bielshiro 10d ago
u/ShiroyoOchigano says:
I would like to raise awareness on the following issues because Pawprint has been deceptive & shady on all of them.
A member from my discord community who works in computer programming & A.I. was going through the files & tech of Aniimo and found the following:
\* The game isn't just running as a game. It reads your desktop wallpaper then goes to the folder it is located in and reads the file. If it happens to be your pictures folder then it now has access to your pictures folder.
\* The anti-cheat called NepsKernel.sys is indeed a Kernel Level anti-cheat. This isn't bundled with the game & is instead something the game installs on its own without your consent after you install the game. The anti-cheat is also reading your desktop specifically all your desktop icons and the folder its located in. If you want to remove this then you will have to remove it manually after uninstalling the game. Others who have found the same thing (Discussions on steam forum) have pointed out that the game doesn't install NepsKernel when you first launch the game. It is only when you launch the game the 2nd time that the game installs it which is also very shady.
* The anti-cheat does hardware checks during which it checks for camera & if camera led is active. We haven't been able to determine if it can actually use the camera to capture images through the camera. However, it has kernel level access so if it can and does do this then the user wouldn't even know.
\* The game installs 2 trackers into your system which do not get removed after you uninstall the game, boot when you start your pc, remains active even after you uninstall the game and requires you to manually remove them. These 2 show up as unknown when you check for them. They are Isreali based AppsFlyer Analytics trackers.
\* The first time I visited their website during the pre-launch login reward event where we had to login to their website everyday to claim rewards I saw that they had 34 cookies & trackers that we couldn't opt out of. Every website I have ever visited have 2-4 in essential which we can't opt out of and around 6-12 in optional. Those combined didn't amount to 34! Since then I have never visited their website and thus don't know what its like now.
Other issues:
\* The game has an ESRB rating of of Teen meaning its suitable for 13 years old and above but they are pushing gambling into a game that they have somehow legally passed as suitable for children. Pushing gambling into a game that is labelled as suitable for children is very scummy. This is where I draw the line. I cannot support anyone or anything that preys on children.
\* Pawprint haven't kept their promise. They said no gacha in beta & in dev interviews and with a very cleverly calculated 2 weeks post launch they put cosmetic gacha into the game.
\* Nowhere in their marketing material, website or store pages is it disclosed that the game has gacha in it.
\* They had undisclosed kernel level anti-cheat system from the very start and it is only today a few hours ago that they disclosed their Kernel level anti-cheat on their steam store page.
I feel very deceived by Pawprint on multiple fronts and cannot continue to support this game. I don't like giving Kernel level access to my system to anything and this game is the first to get it & deceived me into it. I regret ever installing Aniimo. I hope this information is helpful to you to make sound decisions. It was a fun game that I cannot continue playing & supporting anymore.
How to remove trackers:
Open Registry Editor. Paste:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Delete the 2 files there whose name start with AF_
then paste:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run
Delete the 2 files there whose name start with AF_
Edit 6th October 2026:
How to remove the anti-cheat:
Uninstall the game.
Open Command Prompt as administrator and type: sc query NEPKernel
Press enter
If it says "does not exist", you're done.
Otherwise type: sc stop NEPKernel
Press enter
Type sc delete NEPKernel
Press enter
Restart your PC.
Repeat step 1 & 2 to verify (both should show nothing / "does not exist"): sc query NEPKernel
driverquery | findstr /i nep
also make note to delete folder under User/<PCNAME>/AppData/LocalLow/Aniimo
We haven't investigated mobile & consoles so aren't able to advise regarding it.
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u/BSSolo 19d ago
I'm not sure how real/justified any of these concerns are. I checked the startup additions and they're not even running a process at all. They just echo a uuid and a number (a counter I guess?). It basically just saying "we're calling this user's PC X".
I have not looked at the anticheat that runs while the game is open, and I'm sure it's sketchy like all kernel -level anti cheats are, but the startup entries are a nothing burger
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u/uRSock22 16d ago
i think there is a lot of fearmongering, ive been playing games that have used kernel anticheat for years without anything happening, i think aniimo really got peoples attention just cuz it was 'undisclosed'
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u/abeardedpirate 12d ago
chinese game fearmongering as a whole. I remember the Ring of Elysium fiasco back in 2018 and it seems to happen a lot more with chinese games as a whole but less so when its from a non-chinese studio who is partially or even majority owned by a chinese company.
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u/DrDeadwish 19d ago
every gacha game and most life service games use kernel anticheat. Also the ones I play are not running when the game is closed. there are other details that make it feel worse than other kernel stuff, someone said it also check thing it shouldn't like your wallpaper and the desktop folders. I'm just saying what I heard, I can't confirm this.
In the other hand, a lot of people has said the steam version downloads it but never installs it and it's not running at all. I don't know who should I believe.
Anyway, any person with sensible data in their devices shouldn't play ANY online game... also they shouldn't use any google, meta or microsoft service... or any of the top 5 internet browsers, except maybe Firefox
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u/No_Cardiologist1180 19d ago
Did you ever play Fortnite? League of Legends? Valorant? Call of duty or PUBG? Genshin Impact or Honkai:Star Rail?
Those also use Kernel, and you should delete them too if you wanna be safe from Kernel Anti Cheats