{"id":1945643,"date":"2026-05-20T14:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T11:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1945643"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T11:36:24","slug":"we-overlooked-the-potential-offense-and-harm-the-studio-behind-popular-multiplayer-game-party-animals-has-now-cancelled-its-ai-video-competition-entirely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1945643","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We overlooked the potential offense and harm&#8221; &#8211; the studio behind popular multiplayer game Party Animals has now cancelled its AI video competition entirely"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/party-animals\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Party Animals<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">&#8220;We overlooked the potential offense and harm&#8221; &#8211; the studio behind popular multiplayer game Party Animals has now cancelled its AI video competition entirely<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;We feel deeply uneasy and apologetic about this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Party-Animals-in-the-snow.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Party Animals in the snow gameplay\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Party-Animals-in-the-snow.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Source Technology<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-20T14:36:24+00:00\">May 20, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/party-animals-ai-video-contest-cancelled?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          3 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"561da8e9-447a-4167-bb40-3868d8c7c873\" data-name=\"Party Animals\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Party Animals\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Party Animals\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Party Animals\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Party Animals\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Party Animals\" title=\"Follow Party Animals\"><br \/>\n  Follow Party Animals<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Last week, Recreate Games apologised after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/party-animals-ai-competition-controversy-apology\">an AI-generated video competition for its popular casual brawler Party Animals drew significant criticism<\/a> from its community. Now, it&#8217;s cancelled the competition entirely.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/party_animals\/status\/2056710980751765726?s=20\">Recreate announced on X yesterday<\/a> that after receiving &#8220;a significant amount of negative feedback&#8221;, Party Animals&#8217; AI video contest has been cancelled effective immediately.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Party Animals - Official Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UZNIzo94_A0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/UZNIzo94_A0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Party Animals &#8211; Official Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Party Animals &#8211; Official Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UZNIzo94_A0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Even though our original intention was to encourage more diverse forms of creative expression and lower the barrier to entry, allowing more players who love Party Animals to participate, we mistakenly tied &#8216;lowering the barrier&#8217; together with &#8216;using AI&#8217;,&#8221; Recreate wrote.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In doing so, we overlooked the potential offense and harm that the ongoing debate surrounding AI-generated content could cause to our players and the creator community. We feel deeply uneasy and apologetic about this, and we sincerely accept the criticism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The post goes on to explain how the developers plan to collect and act upon player feedback in the future, although without mentioning specifics. Responses to the announcement seem to be mostly negative, with some even suggesting the post might have been written by AI.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the wider games industry and the ongoing discussion about AI and its role in game development, we know of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-ai\">publishers and studios embracing it<\/a>; some have even attempted (and failed) to create entire games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/amazon-ai-game-project-trident-laid-off-anyway-report\">like Amazon<\/a>. Even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/final-fantasy-creator-generative-ai-backlash\">Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is somewhat intrigued by it<\/a>. On the other hand, there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/far-far-west-sells-one-million-copies\">those refusing to give generative AI any space<\/a>. How should a studio use it, if at all? The debate rages on.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Last week, Recreate Games apologised after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/party-animals-ai-competition-controversy-apology\">an AI-generated video competition for its popular casual brawler Party Animals drew significant criticism<\/a> from its community. Now, it&#8217;s cancelled the competition entirely.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/party_animals\/status\/2056710980751765726?s=20\">Recreate announced on X yesterday<\/a> that after receiving &#8220;a significant amount of negative feedback&#8221;, Party Animals&#8217; AI video contest has been cancelled effective immediately.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Party Animals - Official Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UZNIzo94_A0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/UZNIzo94_A0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Party Animals &#8211; Official Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Party Animals &#8211; Official Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UZNIzo94_A0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Even though our original intention was to encourage more diverse forms of creative expression and lower the barrier to entry, allowing more players who love Party Animals to participate, we mistakenly tied &#8216;lowering the barrier&#8217; together with &#8216;using AI&#8217;,&#8221; Recreate wrote.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In doing so, we overlooked the potential offense and harm that the ongoing debate surrounding AI-generated content could cause to our players and the creator community. We feel deeply uneasy and apologetic about this, and we sincerely accept the criticism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The post goes on to explain how the developers plan to collect and act upon player feedback in the future, although without mentioning specifics. Responses to the announcement seem to be mostly negative, with some even suggesting the post might have been written by AI.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the wider games industry and the ongoing discussion about AI and its role in game development, we know of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-ai\">publishers and studios embracing it<\/a>; some have even attempted (and failed) to create entire games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/amazon-ai-game-project-trident-laid-off-anyway-report\">like Amazon<\/a>. Even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/final-fantasy-creator-generative-ai-backlash\">Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is somewhat intrigued by it<\/a>. On the other hand, there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/far-far-west-sells-one-million-copies\">those refusing to give generative AI any space<\/a>. How should a studio use it, if at all? The debate rages on.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Party Animals &#8220;We overlooked the potential offense and harm&#8221; &#8211; the studio behind popular multiplayer game Party Animals has now cancelled its AI video competition entirely &#8220;We feel deeply uneasy and apologetic about this.&#8221; Image credit: Source Technology News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on May 20, 2026 3 comments Follow Party Animals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1945643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1945643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1945643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1945643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1945643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}