Given the nature of The Game Awards, titles will always be shown either as “World Premieres” or as ads that seem very much “out of place.” During the 2024 show, there were a few “reveals” and sections that fit that mold, including the numerous ads showcasing the Hoyoverse of live-service titles, among other things. Then, there was the game called Catly. It stood out in many people’s minds because of how it looked rather “fake.” It is not just fake in the “gaming sense,” but in the sense that many feel it was made by generative AI, which is a bit of a taboo in the gaming space right now.
In fact, once the game was shown, gamers did some serious digging on developer SuperAuthenti and found that its “online presence” was incredibly small, it had no serious gaming credibility, and its founder was one who promoted NFTs and Crypto, which would’ve made them the perfect “vehicle” to try and use AI to make a video game.
However, after the accusations came around, SuperAuthenti reached out to IGN and gave them a statement claiming that there was no generative AI of any kind used in the game or the game’s trailer and that the team was “very surprised by such speculations.”
They doubled down on this by noting:
“We do not think there are any existing AI tools that can produce a video like that. Industry experts have echoed this opinion.”
As for the NFL/Crypto accusations, they stated to IGN that:
“Our company/project has never issued any blockchain currency and any NFTs. Our company does not and has never owned any blockchain currency and NFTs.”
Now, before any apologies are given out, there is some extra context to be provided here. While the developer did show IGN footage from the trailer that seemed to “disprove” the AI theory, there were plenty of images and other “promotional materials” for Catly that highlighted the potential use of AI. When the dev was asked about this, they didn’t respond. Even the game’s Steam description reeks of someone using AI to make a “summary” of what the game was about.
Regardless of whether it’s true or not that this developer used generative AI to make its game, this is still a significant issue in the gaming industry, as many big-name developers and publishers are considering using generative AI to help “streamline the process” and make money, even if it costs people their jobs..
According to a statement provided to IGN, the developers are using Unreal Engine 5 and other technologies to build up this game.
Thus, this is something to keep an eye, and paw, on.
