Neverness to Everness

Overview

Neverness to Everness (often abbreviated NTE) is a free-to-play supernatural urban open-world action RPG developed by Hotta Studio, a subsidiary of Perfect World Games. The game is published by Perfect World Games for a global audience. It is built on Unreal Engine 5 and launches globally on April 29, 2026 across PC (Windows and Mac), PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android. The Chinese launch is scheduled for April 23, 2026, six days ahead of the global release. The game is not available on Xbox at launch. Hotta Studio is upgrading the game to Unreal Engine 5.7 for the launch build, bringing additional performance and visual improvements over earlier beta builds.

Set in the modern metropolitan city of Hethereau, a place where supernatural anomalies and everyday urban life coexist, players take on the role of an Appraiser working at the Eibon Antique Shop. Beneath the city's gleaming skyline lies a hidden layer of supernatural phenomena known as Anomalies. As an Appraiser, the player investigates these Anomalies using Esper abilities, unravels conspiracies, and fights alongside a cast of playable characters called Espers. The game blends real-time action combat, open-world exploration, narrative investigation, and a wide variety of side activities into a cohesive urban fantasy experience.

Neverness to Everness surpassed 20 million pre-registrations ahead of its global launch (later surpassing 30 million). It supports full cross-platform play and cross-save across all supported platforms, allowing players to seamlessly switch between PC, console, and mobile devices without losing progress.

Core Gameplay

The game features third-person real-time action combat centered around the Combat System. Players build a team of four characters and swap between them mid-combo using the Relay System. Combat revolves around chaining normal attacks, skills, and ultimates while triggering elemental reactions through the Esper Cycle, a system of six elements that produce powerful Duo and Trio Reactions when combined correctly.

At launch, the game features 16 or more playable characters (Espers) spanning six elements. Each Esper has a unique moveset, personality, and narrative arc that ties into Hethereau's story.

Character acquisition uses the Scarborough Fair gacha system, a Monopoly-style board-game mechanic that replaces traditional pull-based gacha. Players roll dice to move around a looped board, landing on tiles that grant characters, equipment, and resources. The system guarantees the featured S-Class character without a 50/50 coin flip, making it more generous than many competing gacha games. There is no 50/50 mechanic at all; when players hit the guarantee threshold, they always receive the featured character.

Open World and Exploration

Hethereau is a seamless open world with no loading screens. Players traverse the city on foot, by vehicle, via public transit (buses and an extensive rail network), or using character-specific Esper-powered traversal abilities. A drone mode allows unrestricted aerial exploration and photography. Movement options include running, sprinting (with no stamina cost), jumping, climbing, wall-running, swimming, and gliding.

Side Activities

Beyond combat and story missions, the city has a large variety of side activities and mini-games. NTE features deep life simulation systems that set it apart from typical action RPGs. Players can go fishing across 76 fish types, play online multiplayer mahjong, run their own shop with inventory and pricing management through the business management system, take on part-time jobs as a taxi driver or barista, participate in street racing events, and solve perspective-shifting puzzles.

The housing system allows players to customize their own apartment with furniture and decorations. Cooking lets players prepare dishes from recipes gathered around Hethereau. Vehicle customization is extensive, allowing players to modify and personalize their cars. Other activities include companion interactions like walking together or ear cleaning, arcade machines, rhythm games, and a claw machine mini-game.

Multiplayer and Endgame

Neverness to Everness supports cooperative multiplayer through Anomaly Dungeons such as The Bank and The Hospital, as well as the Pink Paws Heist infiltration mission. The Pink Paws Bank Heist is a team-based dungeon where players infiltrate a building, steal resources, and extract safely while navigating patrolling anomalies. It uses equalized stats, so all players perform at the same power level regardless of progression. The Hospital is a psychological horror-themed dungeon that supports multiplayer co-op. Endgame content includes Anomaly Commissions, High Risk Commissions with unique boss encounters, Circle Bounty activities, and Riftcrystal Mining. New bosses for High-Risk Commissions are planned for the launch build.

All co-op content supports cross-platform play. PC, Mac, PS5, iOS, and Android players share the same servers and can party together for any multiplayer activity. Vehicle and housing online multiplayer features are planned for future updates after launch.

Crime System

The game has a crime and wanted system inspired by open-world sandbox games like GTA. Illegal acts such as attacking passers-by, stealing vehicles, and dangerous driving increase the player's wanted level, triggering police pursuits. Getting caught results in detention at an in-game prison where players can work off their sentence or attempt a jailbreak. The crime and prison system adds a layer of emergent gameplay that few action RPGs offer.

Technical Features

Running on Unreal Engine 5, the game is upgrading to UE 5.7 for the launch build. This version supports full ray tracing and path tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation on PC, and Lumen global illumination. Real-time PBR materials with subsurface scattering deliver realistic weather effects including snow and rain. The open world loads seamlessly with no loading screens between areas.

Key Details

Related Pages

• Beta Test History: full timeline of all closed beta tests.

• Development History: timeline from announcement to launch.

• Platforms: supported platforms and system requirements.

• Characters: full roster of playable Espers.

• Arcs: the weapon and equipment system.

• Co-Op Mode: multiplayer dungeons and cooperative features.

• Anomaly Dungeons: The Bank, The Hospital, and Pink Paws Heist.

• Gacha System: how the Scarborough Fair Monopoly-style gacha works.

• Side Activities and Mini-Games: fishing, mahjong, racing, and more.

• Housing System: apartment customization and decoration.

• Crime and Wanted System: GTA-inspired crime, police pursuits, and prison.