Duke Nukem Evercade publisher Blaze apologises after fans called out its AI-generated artwork
Blaze Entertainment has apologised after it was forced to acknowledge that artwork accompanying the announcement of a Duke Nukem collection – shown above – for Evercade was generated by AI.
In a brief statement, CEO Andrew Byatt insisted that the studio had commissioned an artist «to produce a lead image for the new Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered» game, but «because of „the artists' use of AI in the process“, it had „fallen below the expectation and standards demanded by fans“.
Fans and professional artists were immediately suspicious when the artwork was first revealed, with some providing a breakdown of why the image – reportedly designed by „professional hybrid concept artist“ Oskar Manuel – looked as though it had been machine-generated.
»Real artists would do a HUGE thinking about every. single. Detail," tweeted artist @Hanyuu_central (thanks, PC Gamer). «AI will just do a mindless kitbash without [an] understanding of the world, story, character, culture, anything.»
Man, I did a first game art around 2004. No. SKETCH. EVER. LOOKS. LIKE. THIS. The very thing about the sketch — it shows you how things work. What exactly is the parts. Not a random strokes. Not just a composition. It should show you how. Exactly. Everything. Works. pic.twitter.com/Tuvuxkfsfz
Initially, Blaze supported Manuel, calling him «very talented» in a tweet it has since deleted, but eventually decided to take down the promotional artwork (thanks, Kotaku).
«Over the last 24 hours, we have been humbled by the support and excitement over our newest cartridge announcements and our partnership with Gearbox to bring the Duke Nukem franchise to Evercade,» Byatt said in a formal statement.
«As part of this, an artist was commissioned to produce a lead
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