Crimson Desert is seemingly full of AI-generated assets

I've been compiling screenshots of suspect assets as I've spent over 150 hours in the Crimson Desert over the past few weeks, and for the most part, I've given Pearl Abyss the benefit of the doubt when it comes to AI-generated art in its brand new big-budget open-world game.

But some new screenshots that have surfaced online have made me go back and scrutinize a little harder, and it appears that a number of the paintings, portraits, and other illustrated design work found in Crimson Desert are AI-generated. And bad at it.

I have reached out to Pearl Abyss for comment.

A variety of AI-generated artwork In Crimson Desert

AI generated painting in Crimson Desert.

There is a lot of AI generated stuff on the walls of Crimson Desert. In almost every mansion I've investigated now, from Oakenshield Manor in Hernand to Marni's House in Deleysia, the paintings share the unmistakable stain of bad AI generation. I'm not talking about current Nano Banana 2. This is some rudimentary AI. It reminds me a lot of those early days of Dall-E.

Everywhere you turn there are strange paintings on the walls. Portraits without eyeballs, castles that don't make sense, group paintings where everyone shares a bizarre facial contortion.

As you can see from these images, there is a clear and obvious use of the AI generation to flesh out the game world. Faces are missing, hands and objects are meaningless, and there is a certain eerie quality. During my review, I barely had time to notice these, but now that I've taken the time to get up close, it's pretty clear that these have been generated using an AI tool.

It's easy to say that these paintings and portraits are an unimportant part of the game, and that's because it's largely true. Like I just said, I didn't even notice these on my first playthrough. But this is more about the principle of the matter, and since I researched the AI usage in Anno 117: Pax Romana last year, I've been trying to keep tabs on the AI usage in games, especially when there's no disclosure on the game's website or any of its listings on the various store pages.

Curious members of the playerbase have been pointing out this AI-generated art over the past day, both on X and reddit. Credit goes to Rex_Spy who selected this particular image for the wall at Oakenshield Manor in Hernand. It was this post, along with others on X, that made me go back and start investigating in more detail. I had already collected a few screenshots along the way of things I thought looked suspicious, and here we are.

As is the case when you find AI generated assets in the game, you start to doubt everything else in the game. Take a look at this coin pouch for example.

I had my doubts about this for a while, and I'm still not entirely sure, but I just can't place that slightly odd, slightly “off” look that this coin pouch has. That weird sheen that AI-generated art sometimes has. Then there's this bulletin board, outside the Gold Leaf camp on Howling Hill.

Do these look like AI generated characters to you? Again, they have a certain AI likeness that I personally can't shake. As I mentioned, I've reached out to Pearl Abyss for comment on the use of AI assets in Crimson Desert.