Party Animals Asks Community to Decide Fate of AI Video Contest After Backlash
The studio is handing the decision to the player base, a rare move that tests how much community input can resolve a backlash over AI content.
Reporting from 1 sources: GameBusiness.jp.
Following a review bombing campaign on Steam, the developers of Party Animals have apologized for announcing an AI-generated video contest and asked the community to choose among canceling it, switching to a non-AI contest, or adding a handcrafted category alongside the AI one.
Recreate Games, the Shanghai-based developer behind the physics brawler Party Animals, announced the Golden Paw Awards on May 13. The contest required participants to use AI-centered production tools and submit positive content themed around the game. Scheduled to run from May 15 to September 1, the announcement drew immediate anger from players, who flooded Steam with hundreds of negative reviews per day.
The official X account apologized on May 15, saying prior communication was insufficient. The post explained that the original goal was to lower the barrier to creation, and that the studio sees AI as one tool among many, not a replacement for handcrafted work. The account then presented three options: cancel the AI contest, change it to a non-AI creation contest, or keep the AI category and add a handcrafted category. The post also invited suggestions beyond those three.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.