Blaze Entertainment's first Evercade Showcase was full of great announcements, but much of that hype was quashed thanks to AI-generated artwork.
During the Evercade Showcase, the company announced a pair of Duke Nukem collection cartridges for use with its Evercade EXP and Evercade VS consoles. In partnership with Gearbox, the collections will include landmark titles like Duke Nukem 3D and Duke Nukem: Time to Kill.
However, much of the excitement surrounding the announcement was diminished when users on Twitter discovered that its key art wasn't drawn by human hands, instead being AI-generated.
Evercade being tricked into paying for AI generated art for their Duke Nukem1+2 remaster is just depressing (they’ve deleted all their tweets defending the artist now that they realise they were lied to)This is gonna happen so much more going forward. https://t.co/Ci3Db9OrVmJune 2, 2023
Evercade's official Twitter account initially responded to the criticism poorly, defending the person they'd commissioned for the AI-generated piece and blocking accounts for calling the brand out.
Since the backlash, Evercade has released a statement regarding the usage of AI art on its official website. The message confirms that "an artist was commissioned to produce a lead image for the new Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered game developed by Blaze Entertainment.
"It is abundantly clear from the response on social media that the work on this commission has fallen below the expectation and standards demanded by fans due to the artists’ use of AI in the process."
Evercade went on to confirm that the AI-generated piece is being removed from marketing, and that a new piece will be commissioned in its place. The statement ends with an apology, thanking fans for their concerned feedback.
Evercade certainly could've conducted itself better on social media, but at the very least, it's a relief to see the company respond quickly in an official capacity and work to make amends for the controversy. Hopefully, it won't dull the hype for Evercade's releases too much as there are some pretty stellar cartridge collections lined up for this year and next.
Evercade isn't the only brand in the hotseat today, however, as it's come to light that Diablo 4 players on PS5 are having trouble logging into the game.
