The developer of recently-announced digital pet simulator sport Catly has responded to allegations that the sport’s trailer and advertising was produced utilizing generative AI, saying that no such expertise was utilized in its announcement at The Game Awards, nor within the sport itself.
In an announcement shared with IGN, a PR consultant licensed to talk on behalf of developer SuperAuthenti mentioned that generative AI was not used to supply the trailer, nor the sport. Furthermore, the consultant mentioned the developer was “very shocked by such speculations,” including that “We don’t suppose there are any present AI instruments that may produce a video like that. Industry specialists have echoed this opinion.”
The PR consultant additionally confirmed IGN a model of the trailer from The Game Awards that confirmed in-progress pictures interspersed alongside the ultimate model, which did appear to substantiate the dearth of AI use within the precise trailer manufacturing.
Additionally, the PR consultant mentioned that different allegations suggesting that Catly was a blockchain sport had been equally unfounded. They mentioned that there was “zero blockchain expertise” concerned in Catly or the corporate behind it, SuperAuthenti, and equally there aren’t any NFTs. “Our firm/venture has by no means issued any blockchain foreign money and any NFTs. Our firm doesn’t and has by no means owned any blockchain foreign money and NFTs.”
The spokesperson confirmed to IGN that Catly is being made in Unreal Engine 5, and mentioned the developer makes use of “varied software program” to supply hyperrealistic fur and hair.
Assertions that Catly was utilizing generative AI expertise started to flow into virtually instantly after its trailer debuted at The Game Awards final week. The trailer itself featured hyperrealistic cats with brightly coloured fur and options bounding round a fantasy playspace and interacting with a human carrying varied detailed, excessive trend outfits. The artwork fashion current was flagged by many critics as harking back to the hyperrealistic fashion usually produced by generative AI. That mentioned, Catly’s assertion is in line with the present actuality that sport trailers of this high quality will not be inside the attain of present generative AI expertise with out important, apparent artifacting and different points.
However, others identified that whereas the trailer could also be legit, the opposite elements of Catly’s promotion are nonetheless giving some off vibes. For occasion, the sport’s Steam description awkwardly reads, “A Cat Open World, with Beautiful Cats. Hyperrealism, Actions, Cuddle, Speed, Islands, Fashion, Dreams, Snow, Robots, Plants — all with and through Cats.”
And just a few of the sport’s promotional artwork items had odd particulars just like AI artifacting, such because the odd paws and nostril of this cat:
And the textual content on the wall contained in the right-hand aspect of the constructing on this picture:
Others unearthed more images from the official Catly web site that seem to lift much more questions on their veracity. Notably, the Catly web site was down as lately as Friday, and remained offline over the weekend by means of in the present day after we reached out to SuperAuthenti to ask about it. The web site has since been reinstated, however quite a lot of the outdated pictures have been eliminated.
While SuperAuthenti confirmed to me that it didn’t use generative AI in both the trailer or the sport itself, it didn’t reply to my query about its promotional pictures on Steam or on its web site.
As for web3, hypothesis of the sport’s ties to the expertise surfaced as people unearthed the studio co-founder, Kevin Yeung’s, ties to other blockchain games. Additionally, the sport’s Steam web page contains a glowing quote from League of Legends and Arcane producer Thomas Vu, who himself is a distinguished web3 investor. However, it additionally contained a quote from Hearthstone and Marvel Snap creator Ben Brode, who has taken to Bluesky to say that he is heard nothing about both AI era or web3 concerned in Catly, and that his curiosity is honest. “I noticed 20 [minutes] or so of gameplay footage just a few months again and thought it appeared cool in order that they requested me for a quote,” he wrote.
For now, it does appear that SuperAuthenti is telling the reality concerning the Catly trailer at The Game Awards, although the query of whether or not or not, or how a lot, generative AI has been utilized in Catly’s general growth and promotion stays to be seen. Generative AI is turning into an more and more well-liked software for sport firms, too. Call of Duty reportedly bought an “AI-generated beauty” for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late 2023, and followers accused Activision of utilizing generative AI once more for a loading display this 12 months. EA mentioned in September that AI was “the very core” of its enterprise.
Unfortunately, because the expertise turns into each extra prevalent and extra advanced, it appears possible it would grow to be more and more tough to inform the distinction between AI-generated and human-crafted work. In Catly’s case, we’ll have to attend for 2025 to seek out out extra about what precisely is behind these hauntingly rainbow cat eyes from the trailer.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a narrative tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
