The Chinese otome gaming community just exploded again. NetEase's mobile game 'World Beyond' (世界之外) not only failed to deliver on its promised 101 free gacha pulls over 7 days, but now the entire game's art has been exposed as potentially AI-generated — and the scandal has officially hit Weibo's trending list.
Players dug up glaring AI artifacts in the game's character art: arms with bizarre three-segment structures that look nothing like proper human anatomy. This isn't an art style choice — it's the kind of anatomical failure AI image generators are notorious for.
Even worse, some character hands have six fingers — a textbook AI blunder. It's shocking to see this level of sloppiness in a commercial game that's apparently still pulling decent revenue numbers.
The NGA comment section went nuclear. One player pointed out that aside from assets released back in April 2022, virtually every piece of art in the game appears to be AI-generated — NPC portraits, side profiles, even the female protagonist's back views all scream AI. Another commenter summed up the frustration: 'This money is way too easy to make — the art is AI, the marketing is clickbait, and it's still in the top 10?'
Not everyone was convinced though. One commenter argued that six fingers actually points AWAY from AI use, reasoning that any team using AI would surely double-check hand anatomy. But another user clapped back immediately: 'Six fingers IS the hallmark of AI art — hands are literally the number one thing AI image generators screw up.'
Worth noting: this isn't NetEase's first rodeo with AI art allegations. Players were quick to bring up that other NetEase games have faced similar accusations before, wondering if the company has gone all-in on AI-generated assets across the board. One particularly sharp take: 'AI in the industry is basically inevitable at this point. Industrialized art production is more about 'industry' than 'art' — and industry is all about doing things faster, cheaper, and sloppier.'
A handful of defenders tried to salvage the game's reputation. One commenter acknowledged the storyline is actually innovative, the escape-room-style daily content is creative, and having the love interests call players by their custom names is a nice touch. But then came the brutal caveat: 'Everything else is garbage — no freebies, expensive gacha, constant bugs, ugly male leads made with AI, and the most unhinged segment of the otome fandom. The game AND the community are both a dumpster fire.' Another user was even more blunt: 'Pros: the ML (master love) storyline. That's it. Everything else is trash.'
From broken gacha promises to confirmed AI art to a full-on trust crisis with NetEase's entire art pipeline, 'World Beyond' is speedrunning a reputational meltdown. As one netizen put it: 'Every new NetEase game from now on will have to pass through the AI art gauntlet.' After all, the money saved on real artists didn't go toward better player rewards — it went straight into their faces, in the form of AI sloppiness.
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