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https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/jun/26/video-game-developers-using-ai-even-when-they-arent-stamina-zero>
"In April, game developer Stamina Zero achieved what should have been a
marketing slam-dunk: the launch trailer for the studio’s game
Little Droid
was published on PlayStation’s official YouTube channel. The response was a
surprise for the developer. The game looks interesting, people wrote in the
comments, but was “ruined” by AI art. But the game’s cover art, used as the
thumbnail for the YouTube video, was in fact made by a real person, according
to developer Lana Ro. “We know the artist, we’ve seen her work, so such a
negative reaction was unexpected for us, and at first we didn’t know how to
respond or how to feel,” Ro said. “We were confused.”
It’s not wrong for people to be worried about AI use in video games – in fact,
it’s good to be sceptical, and ensure that the media you support aligns with
your values. Common arguments against generative AI relate to environmental
impact, art theft and just general quality, and video game developers are
grappling with how generative AI will impact their jobs. But the unexpected
problem is that the backlash against generative AI is now hurting even those
who
don’t use it. “I would rather people be overly cautious than not,”
veteran game developer and
Chessplus digital director Josh Caratelli said.
“But being collateral damage does suck.”
Caratelli and his game
Chessplus were caught up in a similar situation when
he posted some art to Reddit – sharing explicitly that it was commissioned and
not made with AI. Even then, Caratelli said he’s received several comments
and direct messages accusing him of lying about it, or suggesting he’d been
duped. “It’s very clearly hand drawn,” he said. “It was a fair whack of money
to spend for an indie team on a piece of art. We thought it was worth it.”
It’s becoming increasingly common for people to call out instances where a game
seems to have used AI in a way that replaces human work. (Epic Games was
singled out recently for its AI Darth Vader.) But sometimes, that anger is
misdirected at people and companies that are simply
believed to be using AI.
This is what happened when a
Magic: The Gathering artist was accused of using
AI, forcing Wizards of the Coast to put out a statement on the false
accusations. Even Nintendo was accused, in May, of using AI-generated images
for in-game billboards in Mario Kart World. Nintendo put out a statement to
deny the claims."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics