VTuber Ironmouse has called out Neverness to Everness after the game was hit with accusations of using AI-generated content.
The backlash started after players pointed out several moments in-game and in promotional footage they believed showed signs of AI use.
One viral post highlighted a scene that closely mirrored imagery from Makoto Shinkai’s anime film Weathering with You, while another showed an in-game TV advertisement that appeared to have strange image distortions.
During her latest stream, Ironmouse claimed the developers had assured her team there was no AI involved in the project before the controversy surfaced online.
Ironmouse speaks out about NTE AI controversy
“They had told my people that there’s no AI in it. It’s so crazy,” she said. “Bro, I would never have known. I didn’t know until I saw that thing on Twitter after the stream,” she said.
“A lot of people @ me with stuff, so I saw it, and I’m like, what the f**k bro? They told my sponsor people and said, ‘we do not have AI in anything, there’s no AI anywhere.’ And it’s like, why are you f**king lying, bro?”
Ironmouse later confirmed she had removed the game, saying it was the “fastest uninstall” of her life, before explaining that she specifically asks sponsors to confirm whether AI is used before agreeing to partnerships.
“First off, here’s the problem, whenever I get sent an offer of a sponsor or something, I always make sure to tell people, ‘Can you make sure, double triple, quadruple check that this does not have AI in it. I will not accept it if it does,” she said.
“And then after they assured me, ‘no, you’re good, it’s fine,’ I then found out it’s not fine, I was like what the f**k…What do you think that I don’t have eyes?!”
At the time of writing, developer Hotta Studio has not publicly confirmed whether AI-generated assets appear in the final version of the game. However, the studio previously addressed concerns around AI usage in a developer interview, stating that “our core assets and character portraits will never touch AI.”
The developers added that AI tools were mainly used during early experimentation phases, explaining they used them for “atmosphere renderings” and preliminary visual reference work during development.
