1666: Amsterdam Developer Drops Gen-AI Art After Community Backlash

Panache Games, the Amsterdam-based developer of 1666: Amsterdam, has removed all generative AI-generated assets from the game's Early Access version, which launched on August 25, following community backlash. Co-founder and creative director Patrice Désilets told GamesRadar+ that AI was used mostly in pre-production but has been 'totally removed,' and the studio 'won't be using AI anymore.'

1666: Amsterdam developer, Panache Games, previously acknowledged the use of AI-generated assets in the 1666: Amsterdam prologue in a statement https://x.com/PanacheDGames/status/2064464778723008537 following its appearance at the Summer Game Fest, claiming that there were "early versions of assets" in the game's prologue and promising that these assets would be replaced by human-made versions in the game's full release. Now, following the backlash surrounding that first incident, Panache has confirmed that it is walking away from generative AI in the game dev process entirely. In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, the studio's co-founder and creative director, Patrice Désilets, has said that the AI-generated assets have been removed from the Early Access version of the game, which launched on August 25. "Yes, we use some AI in the process, mostly at the beginning, in pre-production. It's been totally removed, and we won't be using AI anymore." It's unclear if Désilets means that the studio will not be using generative AI in the rest of the development process for 1666 itself or if the studio will stop using generative AI as a whole.