11 Bit Studios
11 Bit Studios clarifies AI use in The Alters following player outcry
has been criticized by players for its recent release the Alterswhich used artificial intelligence without disclosing it. The new project by the team behind Frostpunk & This War of Mine offers a narratively and aesthetically interesting take on science fiction survival games. The project is filled with a lot dialogue and written text. Some players are also able to read.
found an in-game text that appeared to have been generated by a large linguistic model. Steam’s storefront mandates games to disclose whether they contain artificial intelligence-generated content. The Alters was not tagged with AI content. The studio responded to the complaints with a long statement.
In one instance, AI-generated text was used in a graphic asset. 11 Bit Studios stated that this asset was intended to be used only as a placeholder for development. The company stated “This was never intended to be part of the final release,” . “Unfortunately, due to an internal oversight, this single placeholder text was mistakenly left in the game. We have since conducted a thorough review and confirmed that this was an isolated case, and the asset in question is being updated.”
Players also discovered that AI was used in some cases for translations. 11 Bit Studios said that AI was used to translate subtitles for licensed movies, which can be viewed in the social area of in-game base. It claimed that the translations were done by an external source, without any creative input from their team.
“Due to extreme time constraints, we chose not to involve our translation partners and had these videos localized using AI to have them ready on launch. It was always our intention to involve our trusted translation agencies after release as part of our localization hotfix, to ensure those texts would be handled with the same care and quality as the rest of the game. That process is now underway, and updated translations are being implemented.”
AI has become a sensitive subject for creative professionals. Many companies with large languages models have been accused or admitted to training copyrighted material. This has made AI a non-starter for many artists. It’s understandable that the gaming industry would want to find ways to speed up shipping titles when studios are constantly faced with negative conditions due to crunch. The reactions to AI Alters are likely the latest in a series of ongoing discussions about when and how the tech could be used in game development.
