It hasn't been long since one of Steam's most promising new indie games, Heartopia, was starting to win over players for its adorably charming art style and familiar social gameplay premise. Despite being off to a strong start, a recent announcement by the developers in response to speculation over the use of AI in Heartopia's development has caused a major shift in its public perception.
As reported by TheGamer, Heartopia's development team put out a Discord announcement over their use of generative AI content in the game, most notably for redrawing snapshots of the puzzle sections, and through its in-game chat translator. Despite a note that "Monetisation content in Heartopia does not include AI-generated materials", the announcement has been slammed by a wave of negative reactions, with Heartopia now standing at a mixed review score on Steam.
An Update That's More Than A Little Hard To Defend
What makes the announcement even more frustrating for fans is how long it took Heartopia's developers to make the disclosure and that it only came about after accusations started to mount up.
Combined with the message lacking any sort of actual apology over the use of AI content, it's understandable that...
