Japanese developer Cygames, known mainly for the Granblue Fantasy, Shadowverse, and Umamusume: Pretty Derby franchises, has recently faced significant backlash from several of its otherwise staunch fans over the establishment of a subsidiary, Cygames AI Studio.
Announced last week, Cygames AI Studio is a new division whose purpose is to pursue AI technology that creators can use safely and securely, drawing on the experience it has cultivated in game development. The company's goal is to build a 'unique creative cycle' that goes beyond simply improving efficiency to expand creators' creativity. The announcement also mentioned that, with this new AI Studio, Cygames will take on the challenge of creating new user experiences to realize its vision of being a company that 'creates the best content.' As mentioned above, the news wasn't taken kindly by many of the studio's usual supporters. Now, the developer has shared a public letter of apology in which it vowed that no genAI assets have been used in their games, and that genAI wouldn't be implemented at all in their games without prior notice.
To all our Cygames fans and supporters,
Over the past few days, we've received numerous comments expressing anger and disappointment from many of you. This was because we released a simplified announcement in Japanese concerning the founding of Cygames AI Studio, Inc., without addressing any of the current problems and social debates surrounding generative AI. We sincerely apologize for the concern we've caused.
We would like to take this opportunity to state that art produced from genAI isn't used in our products. Furthermore, we won't implement genAI into our products without prior notice. We hold in the highest regard those who love games, as well as the dignity, passion, and heart of the creators and artists who act as the architects of gaming culture. The art for all current Cygames games and other products is crafted from the technical know-how and manual work of our many staff members.
Once again, we deeply apologize for causing our beloved fans much grief and anxiety. We at Cygames will continue to honor creators, as well as champion the free expression of people, and, in doing so, will continue to strive to be the best in entertainment. Thank you for your continued support.
The Japanese developer is only the latest to become embroiled in controversy over genAI. The most famous case recently was undoubtedly Larian's: when studio founder and CEO Swen Vincke mentioned in an interview that they had been experimenting with genAI to quickly develop concept art and write placeholder text while working on the new Divinity game, a massive backlash ensued, forcing Vincke and Larian as a whole to first say that 'a lot had been lost in translation' and then, last week, to backtrack on any usage of genAI to make concept art or even placeholder text for the upcoming game.
No doubt, more controversies within the industry are on the way, given the polarizing subject. On which side are you on? Speak your mind in the comments.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
