Development History

Overview

The development of Neverness to Everness represents Hotta Studio's second major project following the global release of Tower of Fantasy in 2022. As a subsidiary of Perfect World Games, Hotta Studio applied lessons learned from their debut title to create an ambitious supernatural urban open-world action RPG built on Unreal Engine 5.

Studio Background

Hotta Studio was formed as a subsidiary of Perfect World Games, one of China's largest game publishers. The studio's first major release was Tower of Fantasy, an open-world action RPG that launched globally in August 2022. Tower of Fantasy achieved significant commercial success, establishing Hotta Studio as a competitive developer in the live-service gacha space.

Drawing on their experience with Tower of Fantasy's open-world systems, combat design, and live-service operations, Hotta Studio began developing Neverness to Everness as a more ambitious follow-up. The new project shifted from a fantasy setting to a modern urban environment, representing a significant creative departure.

Announcement and Early Development

Neverness to Everness was first revealed to the public through initial teaser materials and promotional announcements. The game's supernatural urban setting and action RPG gameplay immediately drew comparisons to other open-world gacha titles, but the modern city environment set it apart from the fantasy and sci-fi settings common in the genre.

Early development focused on building the city of Hethereau as a believable metropolitan environment. The team prioritized density and interactivity, filling the city with reactive NPCs, drivable vehicles, public transit systems, and a wide variety of shops and landmarks. The decision to use Unreal Engine 5 gave the team access to advanced rendering features including Lumen global illumination and hardware ray tracing.

Beta Testing Phase

The game went through three rounds of beta testing between November 2024 and February 2026. The first closed beta in November 2024 was China-exclusive, the Containment Test in July 2025 brought the game to global audiences for the first time, and the Co-Ex Test in February 2026 served as the final pre-launch test across PC, PS5, and mobile.

Major Event Appearances

Gamescom 2025

Neverness to Everness had a significant presence at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne, Germany. The event marked the official confirmation of the PlayStation 5 release, expanding the game beyond its initially announced PC and mobile platforms. Hotta Studio showcased a dedicated trailer called "Hethereau Exclusive Feature" that highlighted the game's ray tracing and path tracing capabilities, powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs.

The Gamescom booth featured a Racing Championship event where attendees could experience the game's vehicle mechanics firsthand. The presentation demonstrated the studio's confidence in the game's graphical fidelity and the breadth of its gameplay systems.

Tokyo Game Show 2025

At TGS 2025, Hotta Studio presented a new gameplay trailer that prominently featured the game's racing mechanics. The Tokyo Game Show appearance helped build awareness in the Japanese market, an important audience for gacha-based games.

Launch Date Announcement

On February 26, 2026, Hotta Studio officially announced the global launch date of April 29, 2026. The announcement confirmed that the game would release simultaneously across all supported platforms: PC (Windows and Mac), PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android. The simultaneous global launch, rather than a staggered regional rollout, reflected the publisher's commitment to a unified international player base.

Pre-Registration Campaign

The pre-registration campaign for Neverness to Everness proved remarkably successful, surpassing 25 million registrations by late February 2026. This figure placed it among the most anticipated free-to-play game launches. The campaign offered escalating milestone rewards, culminating in a free A-Class character (Haniel) at the 30 million mark.

Development Timeline

Related Pages

• Beta Test History: detailed breakdown of all three beta phases.

• Neverness to Everness: main game overview article.

• Platforms: supported platforms and system requirements.