Matthew Meeple, designer of 4X board game Ascendancy and spokesperson for fledgling board game publisher One More Turn Games, has promised to entirely remove all AI artwork from new board game Cola Wars in a new YouTube statement.
Published on Thursday, One More Turn Games' video (watch it below) comes after a rash of comments on Cola Wars' Gamefound campaign page, on a BoardGameGeek forum thread, and on Reddit alleged the game and its promo materials contained undeclared AI generated art and imagery.
In the video, Meeple (whose legal family name is not publicly disclosed) acknowledges that there "probably" is AI generated art in the game, and says the firm will immediately begin a "full asset audit across the entire project", pledging that "any final game illustration that cannot confidently be documented as human created, will be replaced or recommissioned for production".
"That includes all final and in progress cards, boards, box, rulebook, all campaign graphics," he adds. "As part of that process several existing pieces of artwork will be recommissioned. We're aiming to do that with maximum transparency."
As to how and why AI generated art ever came to be included in the campaign page or images of the in-development game components, Meeple says it's the result of having remotely commissioned "more than a dozen artists" to contribute to the game, and that he therefore "[hasn't] met 90% of the art contributors, much less been able to look over their shoulder in a proper art studio and verify their workflow".
"When I say all of our art was created by and paid to real human artists, I would love to say with 100% certainty that none of them touched a generative AI tool in the process," Meeple says in the video, "but because One More Turn Games doesn't share an office with the artists, I'm not looking over their shoulder to validate their entire process".
"Admittedly, I'm probably not the best person when it comes to spotting AI art," he adds. "So, because we can't confirm the process for every one of our existing assets, we're implementing a new action plan."
Wargamer contacted One More Turn Games on Thursday to ask for its comment on the situation, but at press time has received no response. In the meantime, of course, the firm posted its video statement. We'll update this story with any additional comments or information directly from the publisher as we receive it.
On Thursday, prior to Meeple's video statement, Cameron Fleming, the designer of Cola Wars, had shared a lengthy post on the r/boardgames subreddit explaining his take on the situation, saying that "I'm pretty sure there is some generative AI art in the game," though "[i]t's actually not very much".
"The graphic design is not AI," Fleming says. "The rulebook is not AI. None of the art on the boards is AI. The components are not AI." He says generative AI was used for prototyping - which Fleming feels is "legitimate" and "better than stealing actual human art" - but that "the intention was always that this art was going to be replaced".
He claims the graphics on the Gamefound campaign page were made by the publisher using AI, adding that "this is the marketing, so it's not what you as a backer are actually paying for. That's not an excuse but I do think it makes a difference".
"Transparency is the important part here," Fleming says, "and I think it's where One More Turn Games screwed up. If people know about AI, then they can make an informed choice. Some people don't care. Some people care maybe to an almost psychotic degree. And a lot of people, like me, have deeply ambivalent feelings about it."
"Bottom line," says Fleming, "Almost none of the art in the game now is AI-generated, but a little bit of it probably is. It's going to be removed… One More Turn Games made a mistake and then made the mistake far worse by not owning up to it right away. They're human, but they're good people."
In response, Meeple's YouTube statement for One More Turn games directly thanks Fleming "for posting so honestly" about the furore in his Thursday Reddit post, calling him "an incredibly decent human being, and a gifted writer". "He was right to push us on this," Meeple adds, and "he was right that I should have communicated more clearly, and sooner."
While One More Turn Games hasn't made any explicit statements about Cola Wars' anti-AI backlash itself, designer Cameron Fleming's Reddit post includes a stark response to online commenters he sees as having "zealously prosecuted the case against Cola Wars".
"I have poured more than three years of my life into creating this game," he says. "You have spent three days trying to destroy it. Over the past three and a half years, I have play-tested it more than 200 times. I created 73 different iterations of the board, myself, in InDesign, without the use of AI, and redid the card decks 74 times before we got the graphic designers on board (and dozens of times since.)"
"I've spent literally thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars of my own money getting this game made," Fleming adds. "I found a publisher. I worked with them. Had arguments with them. Shared wins with them. They let me change my mind way more often than is reasonable.
"They encouraged me. They gave me some amazing ideas and a couple of terrible ones. They've sunk an unimaginable amount of their own money into this project in addition to untold hours of time. They've become my friends."
"This game is the product not just of my own blood, sweat, and tears, but of a team of other human creative collaborators," Fleming adds, "including Matt and Lucas at One More Turn Games, Matt Paquette, and artists who are now too scared to take credit for their incredible work".
"I wanted you to know about the game you're calling AI slop," he concludes.
Since publishing his video statement on YouTube, Matthew Meeple has shared it as part of a new Gamefound campaign update that reiterates "the goal of complete, unequivocal removal of any and all remotely possible generative art in the final delivered game", and promises "a more rigorous documented process" regarding AI use when it recommissions new, replacement artworks.
"If you're a backer, don't sweat the noise, you're going to LOVE Cola Wars," he says in his latest comment on the campaign page. "If you're still on the fence, we will make the final art right, and hope to earn your pledge. If you're here to hate, well…we're not going to restrict you from doing so. And we'll still try to win you over regardless."
The Cola Wars Gamefound campaign has so far raised over $57,000 from nearly 600 backers, and remains open until Thursday, September 24. Currently only one pledge level is available - Cola Wars Premium, priced at $95 - although Meeple's latest update has also promised to introduce a cheaper "Classic version" with lower production values and "lower shipping across the board".
If you're a Cola Wars backer, or a board game fan who's been following the ruckus over the past few days, what's your take? Come join the free Wargamer Discord community and let us know (civilly). AI isn't allowed in our digital treehouse, but neither is abuse - it's a chill, friendly place and we're keeping it that way.