Seems excessive.

There’s AI slop games, the new breed of lazy asset flips. There’s replacing employees with slop machines.

And then there’s “a few of our textures were computer generated.” In a game that is clearly passionately crafted art.

I get it’s about principle, but still.

Also what about AI code tools? Like if they use cursor to help write some code does that disqualify them?

If you do that and proceed to say “No we didn’t use any AI tools”. Then yes, that should be a disqualification.

“When it was submitted for consideration, representatives of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.”

That’s fair.

But the Game Awards should reconsider that label next year. The connotation is clearly “AI Slop,” and that just doesn’t fit for stuff like cursor code completion, or the few textures E33 used.

Otherwise studios are just going to lie. If they don’t, GA will be completely devoid of bigger projects.

…I don’t know what the threshold for an “AI Slop” game should be through. It’s clearly not E33. But you don’t want a sloppy, heavily marketed game worming its way in, either.

You have to draw the line somewhere, saying any game cant use AI is much simpler than an arbitrary definition of what slop is. Also means we reward real artistry everytime.

By this logic you could also ban Photoshop, tablets and any other software or hardware tool that has improved accessibility and workflow over the years.

AI is a tool, flat out banning it won’t and can’t work. It’s too fucking useful.

People said that anyone who used Photoshop wasn’t a real artist, people said computer graphics weren’t real art.

At some point you DO have to draw an arbitrary line. Because that’s all. Art is arbitrary all of it since the dawn of mankind making art. It’s all arbitrary. If you only make hard lines that completely block tools, all you’re doing is harming artists.

The entire point of drawing arbitrary lines is to allow for artists to keep making art. Why dissuading people from abusing others.

So do you want no one to be able to do anything or do you want things to actually have artistic expression which is arbitrary.