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Let It Die: Inferno, out now on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC, drew some pre-release ire surrounding developer Supertrick Games' use of generative AI in the game. According to its Steam store page, "AI-generated content has been used and then edited by our team for certain parts of the in-game voices, music, and graphics." Early Wednesday morning, Supertrick shared a statement on Steam explaining its use of AI in developing the game, and the response has been mixed.
In terms of background art, Supertrick's "planning team developed the concepts and text, ensuring they matched the game’s world setting. Based on these ideas, the art team designed the background art and used an AI tool that observes copyright laws and only to generate rough base images, which were painted over, refined, and adjusted by hand."
Supertrick points to background posters, InfoCast images, and reading material images as the areas it used generative AI. It's not entirely clear how the generative AI Supertrick uses "observes copyright laws" as AI tools are often trained on copyrighted images, and copyright laws surrounding AI use have been in flux worldwide as AI continues to become more prominent.
Supertrick pointing out where AI art was used in Let It DIe: Inferno.Image: Supertrick Games/GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc.
Supertrick Games stresses Let It Die: Inferno's characters are "voiced by human performers," with two notable exceptions. It used "AI-generated voices intentionally to match the nature of the characters" for Mom, "an AI-driven machine" character, and for Goz/Mez, "mysterious life forms." Prior to generative AI tools being made available, one would have expected human voice actors to voice these roles, like Douglas Rain voicing HAL 9000 in 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Tricia Helfer playing the AI lifeform EDI in the Mass Effect games, or humans voicing alien and mysterious creatures throughout any media that features them.
Lastly, Supertrick explains how AI was used in crafting the game's music. An "AI-based music editor was used to generate each stem." Some of those stems were edited by humans, "but most were rebuilt from scratch." It lists "Select Iron Perch" background music as tracks that used AI.
The response to Supertrick's use of AI has been mixed, judging by comments on the Steam announcement. Some people are grateful for the transparency, while others are angered by, in their eyes, the unnecessary use of AI assets. "Why would I bother paying for a product that the developers couldn't care enough to invest in their own talent and art?" writes one commentor who said they canceled their preorder. "Are these assets really worth it? Are they worth losing the goodwill of some [of] your dedicated player base?" another questions.
Outside of the generative AI controversy Supertrick Games has found itself in, reception to Let It Die: Inferno has not been warm. It sits with a Mostly Negative review rating on Steam, though at this time of writing there's only about 160 reviews, so that may change as more players get their hands on their game. (If MindsEye can get to "Mixed," anything can.) Inferno players are docking it for being PvP only, for its poor optimization, and for lacking the unique qualities of the original 2016 game.
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