Bandai Namco made a surprising disclosure when it comes to their upcoming Sony franchise game, Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots.
They added a generative AI disclosure on their Steam page. The disclosure goes like this:
Some game textures were created using generative AI with supervision and revision by the developers.
Details of this generative AI usage can be found below.
– Tree and leaf textures in the golf courses were created using AI-generated images.
For those who may not have known, Valve introduced these generative AI disclosure rules on Steam last year. It is entirely possible that we would not have known about their use of generative AI if they did not publish the game on Steam.
Many fans are questioning why developer HYDE, publisher Bandai Namco, and franchise owner Sony Interactive Entertainment decided to go ahead with generative AI use, knowing the stigma against the technology. For what it’s worth, it is true that this technology is in active use in many video games of different scales. While there are gamers who are resistant to buying or playing any game that uses generative AI, this disclosure does help consumers decide for themselves if they will want to buy the product.
In this case, the work done using generative AI seems innocuous. It’s clear that this did not effect gameplay or other essential aspects of game design. It is possible that this was done as a time saving or even budget saving measure. While generative AI and the AI model tech behind them had been notorious in the past for consuming large amounts of energy, we have seen the technology scaled down, such that they can be run natively on smartphones. So we can’t just assume that this particular application led to large energy expenditure, or any larger than they would have spent using other methods.
On the flip side, one may question if the use of generative AI was even necessary. We’re sure some fans would have stated they would be satisfied with less sophisticated tree and leaf textures if they were made using procedural technology that didn’t involve generative AI.
This revelation may have given a sour taste in the mouth for gamers who were actually fans of the Everybody’s Golf series and its original studio, Clap Hanz. After the 2017 Everybody’s Golf on the PlayStation 4, Clap Hanz went on their own to make a new game, Easy Come Easy Golf, on the Switch and Apple products.
The new studio for this reboot, HYDE, is more than capable of delivering a satisfying title. Their gameography includes the likes of Disney Tsum Tsum Festival, Digimon Survive, and Tamagotchi Plaza. In other words, they have a lot of experience with casual games but can also make AAA titles.
We can’t really come to more conclusions on this unless HYDE or the game’s publishers speak up, but if you were interested in this game, consider generated AI a red flag, or both, this is what you needed to know.
