Players of Neverness to Everness have identified an AI-generated watermark on a new asset released in the game's 1.3 update. The image, which features a seahorse, contains a visible watermark for Doubao, a free AI chatbot assistant from ByteDance.
Quick Facts
- Game: Neverness to Everness
- Developer: Hotta Games
- Platform: Multi-platform (China update released August 12, 2026; global release scheduled for August 19, 2026)
- Issue: A watermark for free-tier Doubao AI software was left on a game asset.
The discovery comes after Neverness to Everness faced previous community backlash regarding its reliance on AI-generated assets. In response to earlier criticism, Hotta Games stated that "AI-assisted tools were used only on a small number of background and environmental assets" and explicitly noted that the characters and stories defining the game were not created using AI.
While the developer has not claimed a total ban on AI-assisted content, the presence of an unremoved watermark has led to community criticism regarding the studio's quality control. The 1.3 update first arrived in China on August 12, with the global release set for August 19, 2026.