Six-Fingered Heroines and AI: A Brief Look into the Controversy Surrounding the Announcement of “Endless Summer 2”

• The studio Soviet Games announced "Everlasting Summer 2" on the evening of January 12. They declared that the sequel would feature a new main character, but the game's plot premise would remain the same—just like in the original, a regular 21st-century guy will fall asleep on a bus and wake up in a pioneer camp.
• Almost immediately, gamers noticed anomalies in the official artworks accompanying the announcement, including the "Everlasting Summer 2" cover art on Steam. They observed girls with six fingers on their hands and speculated that the developers might have generated them using AI. As a result, Soviet Games faced a wave of criticism on social media.

Original cover art for "Everlasting Summer 2" on Steam

• In the following hours, the developers released a series of statements denying the use of AI. According to them, the error with the number of fingers occurred due to the "rush and oversight" of the artist. As proof, the studio shared sketches showing various stages of the art's development.

One of the sketches for "Everlasting Summer 2" art

• Notably, Soviet Games initially responded to the situation calmly and even humorously. For instance, they posted several memes about it. However, on the night of January 13, the studio criticized those who accused them of using AI. Soviet Games stated that the times when AI generated six-fingered people are over, and the scandal surrounding the announcement arose largely due to the "complete degradation of people's expertise."
• Soon after the first discontented comments appeared, Soviet Games updated the controversial artworks both on social media and their website, as well as on Steam.

Promotional art for "Everlasting Summer 2" after changes were made

The demo version of "Everlasting Summer 2" will be released in the spring of 2026. The release date for the full game has not yet been announced.