Party Animals dev apologizes for AI video contest, will leave its fate up to a vote

Recreate Games says it wanted to 'lower the barrier to creation.'

Recreate Games, the developer behind the popular multiplayer game Party Animals, has addressed backlash that it received for hosting an AI video contest. The studio apologized for upsetting players, but has not committed to a decision regarding the contest. Instead, a poll is being held to determine what happens next.

Recreate Games published a statement on X this morning to address the response it received following the announcement of the AI video contest. “Our original goal was to lower the barrier to creation,” the statement reads. “In past contests, we saw players with great ideas and scripts who couldn’t fully bring them to life because they weren’t familiar with tools like editing, modeling, or animation software. We hoped AI could be a more accessible tool that lets more people take part.”

Now, Recreate Games is asking players to vote in a poll to determine the contest’s fate. The options are as follows:

• Cancel the AI contest
• Change to non-AI contest
• Keep AI, add non-AI track

The May 13 post about the contest was flooded with players criticizing the studio’s decision to uplift and platform AI content. Players also expressed their frustration through Steam, with Party Animals currently sitting at a “Mostly Negative” average for its recent reviews.

The contest initially asked players to submit AI-generated short films, music videos, skits, and other similar content. Winners would earn a portion of a $75,000 prize pool.

Party Animals is a physics-based party game in which players can brawl and face off in mini-games with friends. The game was released in 2023.

Shacknews staff does not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their content. Shacknews strictly prohibits the use of its content for AI training or to generate text, including text in the style or format used for this publication. Shacknews reserves all rights to this work.