NTE: Neverness to Everness faces AI backlash

Neverness to Everness is under fire just days after its global launch. Players have identified what they believe are generative AI-produced assets inside the game, and the backlash has already cost Hotta Studio one of its biggest promotional partnerships. VTuber Ironmouse, who had signed a sponsorship agreement with the studio, canceled her stream on May 4 and publicly cut ties with the game after claiming the developer had assured her team there was no AI in the title.

"They had told my people that there's literally no AI in it," Ironmouse said on stream. She described the discovery as "so crazy" and confirmed she had already uninstalled the game. Her contract with Hotta Studio reportedly included a clause against generative AI use, or she was specifically told there was none before she agreed to the deal. That assurance, she says, was not accurate.

What players found

The controversy started on X when players began sharing clips and screenshots from the game pointing to suspected AI-generated content across promotional materials and in-game environments. The most widely shared example is a billboard video inside the game's city of Hethereau that appears to closely mirror scenes from Makoto Shinkai's anime film Weathering with You. Other posts flagged visual inconsistencies in background assets and short in-game animations that the community described as characteristic of AI image generation.

Ironmouse was not the only creator to speak out. English voice actor Meggie-Elise posted publicly that a game she had worked on had been "using AI and has been dishonest about it", stating she does not support generative AI in any creative field, including voice acting, art, writing, or music. She warned that if the situation were not addressed and removed, she would stop working with the team behind the game. Her post has since been widely linked to Neverness to Everness.

Hotta Studio's position

The developer has not responded publicly to the controversy as of publication. In a pre-launch developer interview, Hotta Studio had previously stated that "our core assets and character portraits will never touch AI" and acknowledged that AI tools were used during early development phases for atmosphere renderings and preliminary visual reference work. Whether the assets now being flagged by players fall inside or outside that definition has not been clarified.

The community response has been divided. Some players are defending the game's overall quality and arguing that the billboard scene is a deliberate homage rather than AI-generated work. Others are calling for a full disclosure of which assets in the game involved AI tooling at any stage of production. Neverness to Everness launched globally on April 29 on iOS, Android, PS5, and PC, reaching one million pre-registrations in the lead-up to release.

Neverness to Everness is free to play on iOS, Android, PS5, and PC. Notebookcheck covered the game's global launch ahead of its April 29 release date, including its cross-platform support and player-friendly gacha structure at launch