Neverness to Everness AI Controversy Explained: What Happened After Launch

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Neverness to Everness (NTE) is a recently launched supernatural open-world action RPG gacha game from Hotta Studio (the team behind Tower of Fantasy) and Perfect World Entertainment. It went live globally around April 29, 2026 and quickly gained strong initial traction, reportedly earning over $14 million on day one. In fact, it probably outpaced competitors like Wuthering Waves or Zenless Zone Zero in early revenue.

The drama erupted shortly after launch when players noticed certain in-game elements that appeared to be generated or heavily influenced by AI. This included background billboards and posters in the city of Hethereau, with one example closely resembling a scene from Makoto Shinkai’s anime film Weathering with You.

Everyone pointed to unnatural animations in short in-game clips and other visual assets that looked inconsistent or AI-like. Some accused the developers of using generative AI to replicate or filter existing artwork, which sparked accusations of theft and lack of originality.

This led to significant backlash. Several content creators and voice actors distanced themselves: VTuber Ironmouse canceled a sponsored stream after her team was reportedly told the game had “no AI anywhere.” English voice actor MeggieEliseVA and others threatened to cut ties if the issue wasn’t addressed.

However, we can argue that discovering AI usage doesn’t retroactively erase the thousands of hours of fun players have already had with the game in its first week. We can view much of the outrage as performative virtue signaling, a way for people to score internet points by loudly declaring “I hate AI too”, rather than a critique of the game’s overall quality.

The debate reflects broader tensions in gaming: concerns about AI displacing artists, ethical issues around training data and originality, and questions of transparency from developers. Supporters of the game point out that AI tools have been used in game development pipelines for years (for optimization, references, or non-final assets), and that the vocal anti-AI crowd represents a minority, especially when the game remains enjoyable for many.

As of now, Hotta Studio hasn’t issued a major public response, and opinions remain split. The game continues to be played and discussed actively, with many treating the AI elements as a minor issue or something that could be patched/replaced in updates. The whole situation highlights how quickly online gaming communities can polarize around emerging tech like generative AI.