Neverness to Everness (NTE), an urban open-world anime RPG developed by Hotta Studio under Perfect World Games, launched globally on April 29 and quickly became a hit in Japan. The game topped revenue charts alongside the US on day one, and its deeply anime-influenced content spread widely on social media, with players discovering detailed recreations of real-life spots like Akihabara and Shibuya, as well as nods to iconic anime landmarks.

The reception sparked a broader conversation online, with many Japanese players expressing surprise that a game so polished and so rooted in anime culture came from a Chinese studio rather than a domestic one. Japanese game developers soon joined the discussion, addressing the question head-on: why hasn’t Japan made something like NTE?

日本のゲーム業界人の方でNTEを遊んでいる方であれば理解できると思いますが、このゲームの作り込みは尋常でありません。
ヘテロシティの一番高いところまで登ってPC版とiOS版で写真を撮って比較しましたが、どちらでもストレスなく遊べるんです。
これがどれだけ恐ろしい事かわかると思います。 https://t.co/Xp7PTXHzpS pic.twitter.com/ENDC87CBvA

— alwei (@aizen76) April 30, 2026

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One of the most-shared voices in the conversation was Alwei, a representative at Indie-Us Games, a Japanese company that specializes in Unreal Engine development. In a series of posts, Alwei broke down what makes NTE technically impressive and why it would be extremely difficult to replicate in Japan.

“Anyone in the Japanese game industry who’s actually played NTE will probably get what I mean, but the level of detail and polish in this game is on another level,” Alwei wrote, adding that the game ran smoothly on both PC and iOS even when viewed from the highest points in the game world. “If you understand what that implies, it’s honestly kind of terrifying.”

NTE Officially Launched

Normal is an Anomaly.

NTE officially launched on April 29! Appraisers, welcome to Hethereau.
Download now >> https://t.co/vTlT0Z6330

Heads up: launch week may come with a few temporary anomalies of the less interesting variety (login queues, connection… pic.twitter.com/eWeKeJKR0a

— NTE Global (@NTE_GL) April 29, 2026

Japan has a long and respected history in game design with major global hits to its name, but titles like NTE are clearly raising the bar for what players expect, especially in the live-service space. Alwei summed up the mood thoughtfully: “It’s not that I’m trying to ‘beat’ them or anything, but I keep finding myself thinking that game development has become increasingly difficult when it comes to meeting expectations. So I often wonder, surely there must be a Japanese way of approaching this?”