Seeing short-form marketing ads of content creators playing free-to-play games might feel commonplace to many audiences. However, the The First Descendant AI ads — especially one depicting content creator DanieltheDemon — has cause backlash from the community. It is unclear whether this was with his permission or not, but the generative ads continue to stir opinions.
While not strictly tied to game development itself, this is part of a larger discussion about the use of AI in gaming and where (if anywhere) the line should be drawn.
What Are The First Descendant AI Ads?
The First Descendant is a free-to-play looter shooter that was released in July 2024. The game hit 10 million Steam players within its first week, but this had dropped by 96.4% six months later.
Despite this, the game still enjoys a core audience, with content creators for the game – which is part of the reason that there is such controversy around the decision to use AI instead of a partnership with these influencers.
Reddit users criticising the decision compared the gameplay shown in the ads as being reminiscent of a fake game or a scam, drawing attention to Nexon’s alleged crackdown of critical comments on these uploads on their TikTok page.
Who is Nexon?
Nexon is a South Korean developer and publisher, behind some recent popular releases including Lies of P, Dave the Diver and The First Berserker: Khazan. Not all of the games published by them are necessarily developed by them, but they’re far from a small or unknown company.
That can make the decision regarding AI ads potentially more egregious to some, especially if it means skipping out on an opportunity to work with the community around The First Descendant in a more direct way.
Is AI in Gaming Controversial?
Is this an incident that’s new or is it something that’s been a part of gaming discourse for a while?
Much of the conversation around AI in games has focused on the role that it has in development. As in other industries, while generative AI is seen as a tool that could potentially minimise a lot of the work being put into menial tasks (such as designing landscapes in games), there is more pushback against it entering the creative domains like writing or acting.
There is also the question of how it might impact jobs in the industry, with one former Rockstar developer commenting that GTA 7 might hypothetically be cheaper to produce than GTA 6 due to the role that AI will likely play in its development.
