Publisher Hooded Horse Added “No F***ing AI Assets” to its Contracts, Calls GenAI “Cancerous”

Hooded Horse, a publisher that made a name for itself when it picked up Manor Lords and has since been known to have a keen eye for strategy and city-building games, has drawn its line in the sand on GenAI tech. In an interview with Kotaku, Hooded Horse's chief executive officer, Tim Bender, made it clear that the publisher will not sign studios that use GenAI.

The studio has even gone so far as to add a "no f***ing AI assets" line into its contracts, banning any studios that work with it from using generative AI technology in the process of developing their game. "If I sound frustrated, it's because, like, honestly, all this thing has done is made our lives more difficult," said Bender.

"I f***ing hate GenAI art, and it has made my life more difficult in many ways," Bender continued. "Suddenly it infests s**t in a way it shouldn't. It is not written into our contracts if we're publishing the game, 'no f***ing AI assets.'"

It's a strong stance for the publisher to take, though not a surprising one when you consider the amount of backlash studios like Larian and Embark Studios have received with their admittance of using GenAI tech, and even non-gaming companies like Dell admitting that consumers are "not buying based on AI," signifying that people do not want to hear that AI and GenAI is at the forefront of new products.

That said, Bender goes on to say that simply including the ban on GenAI in the contract and drawing its line in the sand is what's easy. Actually ensuring that developers follow through with the ban is a different story.

"We've gotten to the point where we also talk to developers and we recommend they don't use any GenAI anywhere in the process because some of them might otherwise think, 'Okay, well, maybe what I'll do is for this place, I'll put it as a placeholder,' right? Like some, people will have this thought, like they would never want to let it in the game, but they'll think, 'It can be a placeholder in this prototype build.' But if that gets done, of course, there's a chance that that slips through, because it only takes one of those slipping through in some build and not getting replaced or something. Because of that, we're constantly having to watch and deal with it and try to prevent it from slipping in, because it's cancerous."

It's clear that GenAI is going to continue to be a controversial topic in the video game industry when it comes to its use in game development. Some studios, like the aforementioned Embark, will continue to use it without shame or fear, especially when you consider that Embark's latest release, ARC Raiders, is arguably one of the biggest recent commercial successes in games.

But for Hooded Horse, it's not so much a question of using GenAI being bad PR; it's that the team firmly does not believe in the technology and takes an ethical stance against it. "When it comes to GenAI, it's not a PR issue, it's an ethics issue," Bender added. "The reality is, there's so much of it going on that the commitment just has to be that you won't allow it in the game, and if it's ever discovered, because this artist that was hired by this outside person slipped something in, you get it out, and you replace it. That has to be the commitment. It's a shame that it's even necessary, and it's a very frustrating thing to have to worry about."

Ultimately, Hooded Horse is just one indie publisher in a sea of publishers. We can't say if another company will take the same approach, but as conversation and controversy around GenAI continue to rise, it wouldn't be a surprise if we start seeing more companies draw their own line in the sand on GenAI.

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