Heartopia Dev Issues Statement on the game's AI usage

Heartopia Developers have talked about the game's use of AI, and the community isn't thrilled. Heartopia just earlier in January, and while it has already seen a good amount of success, this discovery is leading to backlash from those who are otherwise fans.

Heartopia has been described as a multiplayer game that is like a cross between Stardew Valley and Animal Crossingwhich understandably has led to many players checking it out. On Steam alone, the game has seen tens of thousands of players, with a peak of over 37,000 playing simultaneously. However, given that the game only launched earlier this month, players are still discovering everything in it, and some have started to express concern after finding what appeared to be AI assets in the game. Now the team has shared that the game uses AI and revealed how it has been used.

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How Heartopia uses AI

After players shared their discoveries, they began asking if AI was used in the game, and if so, how. This led to a response on the game's official Discord channel, which revealed that AI is used in the game's puzzle game to “reinterpret and redraw in-game snapshots” and is also used in the game chat “to help players understand different languages.” Although the puzzles are taken from in-game screenshots, it appears that AI is used to give them a more artistic look. They added that the game's monetized content does not contain any AI-generated material, and that changes in the future will be announced by the developers in advance.

Heartopia players react to AI usage

Fans reacting to this news have had largely negative opinions about the use of AI in the game, with most disapproving of its use in the game's puzzles. Some have pointed out that it seems like it would be easy to simply convert the screenshots the puzzles pull from to look like paintings by using simple filters, rather than relying on generative AI, while others have suggested just sticking to screenshots for the puzzles. Some have said they think it's acceptable to use AI for translation, but the vast majority of respondents aren't happy with how it's used for puzzles.

Heartopia is already facing backlash following this revelation due to a number of factors and in several ways. Negative reviews are already appearing on Steam pointing out the game's use of AI, and players on communities like Reddit are sharing their feedback about it. Users on the game's Discord also tried to share their frustrations there with mixed success, with some claiming the channel has received some negative responses. Others have declared that they will not play Heartopia unless the AI content is removed from the game.

AI is a sore spot for players

While not all gamers are against generative AI, there has been a lot of backlash when other developers have revealed that their games use AI. In addition to the ethical concerns players have with it, as many have worried about generative AI based on artwork taken without permission or payment, others are upset about AI because it affects them personally as players. With the popularity of generative AI, more companies are securing parts to keep their systems running, leading to component shortages for things like PC gaming. There are also concerns that the shortage could lead to the release of next-gen consoles later than expected, and that the overall cost of games increases due to increased prices of TV screens, computers, consoles and even the electricity to power them.

Whether the AI backlash is enough to make an impact remains to be seen Heartopias the end result, or if the developer will remove it to keep the player base happy.