{"id":742513,"date":"2026-08-19T03:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/742513\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T03:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:08:07","slug":"nte-artwork-features-watermark-for-free-trial-of-ai-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/742513\/","title":{"rendered":"NTE Artwork Features Watermark For Free Trial Of AI Software"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neverness to Everness, the 2026 gacha game from developer Hotta Games that was mercilessly dragged online in April for its overabundance of AI-looking assets, is, for the third time this year, embroiled in another genAI controversy. It comes less than four months after the devs stated that the game<\/a> \u201cis built on human creativity\u201d and that they were \u201ccommitted to delivering the quality [players] deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently, the \u201cquality\u201d that said players \u201cdeserve\u201d is this<\/a>: an AI-generated image of a seahorse that was featured in\u00a0in the latest 1.3 update for\u00a0Neverness to Everness, which released on August 12 in China.<\/p>\n

However, it gets worse, as users on China\u2019s live-streaming and social media platform Bilibili noticed that said image was seemingly generated using the free version of ByteDance\u2019s AI chatbot assistant Doubao. But how did they figure this out? Did they run it through AI-detection software?<\/p>\n

No, the answer is much dumber than that: the seahorse asset in Neverness to Everness\u2019s 1.3 update features a watermark for Doubao AI that somebody at Hotta Games apparently forgot to remove.<\/p>\n

BREAKING \ud83d\udd34: NTE has been caught using generative AI for art assets again\u2014and this time, they forgot to remove the watermark.<\/p>\n

Despite their past public apologies, Hotta Studio shows zero remorse and continues to push hidden gen-AI assets behind the scenes. #NTE<\/a> #NTE\u30cd\u30d0\u30a8\u30d0<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7XaZ5GDPCe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 John \u0421\u0435\u043c\u0451\u043d (@JhnSMem) August 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious as to how multiple players in China have already spotted this when Neverness to Everness\u2019s 1.3 update isn\u2019t set to go live globally until tomorrow on August 19, that\u2019s because NTE\u2019s updates are released in China a week early.<\/p>\n

Now, to be completely fair, Hotta Games never stated that it would stop using AI-generated assets in Neverness to Everness when they were caught the first time<\/a> around, or even the second time for that matter. Instead, Hotta Games admitted that \u201cAI-assisted tools were used only on a small number of background and environmental assets,\u201d and not for any of \u201cthe characters or stories that define this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

I suppose the asset for a seahorse doesn\u2019t technically count as game-defining, so I can\u2019t fault them on that front, but it\u2019s still pretty laughable that Hotta Games has chosen to phone it in to this degree. I mean come on, you couldn\u2019t even shell out for the premium version of Doubao AI for your game that earned over $200 million<\/a> in its first two months?<\/p>\n