In a recent survey, we explored gamers’ attitudes towards the use of Gen AI in video games and whether those attitudes varied by demographics and gaming motivations. The overwhelmingly negative attitude stood out compared to other surveys we’ve run over the past decade.
In an optional survey (N=1,799) we ran from October through December 2025 alongside the Gamer Motivation Profile, we invited gamers to answer additional questions after they had looked at their profile results. Some of these questions were specifically about attitudes towards Gen AI in video games.
Overall, the attitude towards the use of Gen AI in video games is very negative. 85% of respondents have a below-neutral attitude towards the use of Gen AI in video games, with a highly-skewed 63% who selected the most negative response option.
Such a highly-skewed negative response is rare in the many years we’ve conducted survey research among gamers. As a point of comparison, in 2024 Q2-Q4, we collected survey data on attitudes towards a variety of game features. The chart below shows the % negative (i.e., below neutral) responses for each mentioned feature. In that survey, 79% had a negative attitude towards blockchain-based games. This helps anchor where the attitude towards Gen AI currently sits. We’ll come back to the “AI-generated quests/dialogue” feature later in this blog post since we break down the specific AI use in another survey question.
The fact that Clair Obscure Expedition 33 was well received as the best game of the year, and found out there was some use of Ai afterwards… tanked it reputation. But the results speak for themselves. This game does not look like Ai slop. This means, companies are motivated to hide this fact even more.
My understanding is they only generated some textures, which everyone noticed and complained about, so they had to patch in human-created textures to replace them.
They also lost a goty award because they lied about having never used ai.
I don’t think either of those situations would encourage hidden use of ai.
From what I remember people knew about the AI thing for a long time, but forgave it cause it was replaced immediately after release. I think what makes people upset at Lairion now is that they’re trying to dance around the AI problem instead of discussing it directly. They come up with tons of excuses whenever asked instead of just strongly sticking to their choice. It’s like whenever any big company gets called out for doing something stupid. They just do bad PR nonsense instead of saying what they actually mean.
Potentially good news about Lairion: Larian announce plans to let folks ask anything about their generative AI use
AI has a lot of problems beyond how it looks. I was going to play COE33 but I’m no longer interested.
Because they used, and then removed, placeholder AO generated textures in some unspecified location?
I hate to break it to you buddy but for the last 2 years every piece of software you’ve used, including this one, has had the dev experiment with AI tools.
It wasn’t some unspecified location. There are images of the AI textures. Why should anyone believe they were placeholder textures as opposed to crap that they thought nobody would notice?
I’m not against the use of AI, so why you would assume that I do not know. I expect transparency on its use. The developers clearly were not transparent if it ever got to the point where they won an award despite a hard anti-AI rule.
They removed the AI content less than a week after release. By unspecified I mean it wasn’t a deliberate “this is the AI section”.
The awards were given 4 days ago, 6 months after release (more?). So the judgement is not on the game as it stands or even as it was submitted.
The awards don’t matter, I’m just genuinely baffled by this person depriving themselves of joy because of some virtue signalling that relies entirely on just not being aware of AI being used everywhere else.
“Virtue signalling” really? This is some AI bro bullshit. Like clockwork, everyone who is exposed for using art theft slop comes out and claims that they didn’t use it. And if they did, they only barely used it. So that makes it okay, apparently. That’s on you if you just blindly believe the oopsie from the developers.
Talking completely out your arse there, and ignoring what I just said in my previous comment.
Yes, absolutely it is virtue signalling. You are taking an utterly meaningless stance for which the only upside for anyone is you think you maintain some kind of honour despite consuming “theft slop” unknowingly every day, even as you read this sentence, and the only downside for anyone is that you don’t get to experience a game that you otherwise would enjoy used to have, even if deliberately and knowingly, used to have some AI textures.
You’re the one who ignored what I said, which is why I’m essentially just having to repeat myself. If you take such hardline stance that any use at all is “theft slop”, you might as well go offline. It’s in the code that made the app you’re using. It’s in the code running your OS. It’s in music you listen to. It’s in the movies you watch.
Absolutely push back on theft - deliberate misrepresentation of someone’s work or style as orignal. Absolutely push back on slop. Just because it took a minute to generate something doesn’t mean you don’t then check it before productionising it. But taking this weird religious stance where something literally is tainted from previously having used AI, that is just for you. You’ve got about 30,000 days on this earth, man. Probably a good chunk of that is gone already. Spend a few hours of it playing an interesting, original game which does more to demonstrate the value of real creativity and originality than any little personal protest you indulge yourself in.