Developer Responds to 'Fallen' Trailer AI Backlash

The founder, director, producer, and writer behind indie title Fallen has responded to claims its reveal trailer was built using generative AI, confirming that it was a "tone pitch" with AI "placeholders [that] briefly escaped the context [they were] meant to live in." After the Fallen reveal teaser debuted on IGN, commenters were quick to critique it, with one writing: "Woof. Any way to unreveal it?" and another saying: "can't wait to not touch this with a 10-foot pole." "Are game companies even aware of how controversial using AI art is?" asked someone else in the comments. "Why can't [they] just read the room." You can watch the trailer yourself below: Now, creator Brooke Burgess has clarified that while there are AI "placeholders" in the trailer, the gameplay, environments, cinematics, and combat is "real, in-engine UE5.4 work" and "all writing is mine (no LLMs), all audio is bespoke, VO is from my colleague Kasper Michaels, and all creative support [and] implementation was done in close collaboration with my lead." "There are [AI-generated] placeholders in there, specifically some 2D test assets used to explore mood and presentation (for example, how 'lost souls' and fallen angels in the game might react when spoken to and judged, along with [work-in-progress] HUD elements). That material was never intended as final content, nor as a statement on how the shipped game would be made." In a separate interview, Burgess told GamesIndustry.biz last week that he was not "waving the flag of AI by any stretch." "I'm not going to sell my soul and be like, 'Yeah, I'll do it by myself, let me prompt this whole game into existence'," Burgess said. "No, I want to work with really talented people and make something cool. But if integrating it in a way that doesn't affect creativity, but helps to save a little bit of money and gets the game out there to people, and gives us a chance to make something cool and memorable, and then make something else after that — it's something I have to factor in." He also revealed that "every" prospective publisher has asked how he intends to use AI to "save money." "Every publisher I've talked to has brought up: 'So, have you thought about how AI might be able to save money on this?'" he added. "Almost all of them. They want to know that you're thinking about it, that you understand the potential." Fallen is an "epic dark fantasy action adventure game" featuring an avenging angel sent to the depths of Hell for one purpose — "to judge every demon, lost soul, and fallen angel, and bring an end to the cycle of suffering once and for all!" We don't have a release date or even a release windows at this time, but it is expected to come to both PC and consoles. Opinion on the use of AI in games continues to divide studios and their fans, with some vehemently against its use, while others claim it's an inevitable part of the future. Rockstar co-founder and former Grand Theft Auto writer Dan Houser recently likened AI to mad cow disease, but the CEO of Genvid — the company behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive series like Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed "consumers generally do not care" about generative AI in games, and stated that: "Gen Z loves AI slop." EA CEO Andrew Wilson has said AI is "the very core of our business," and Square Enix recently implemented mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to be "aggressive in applying AI." Dead Space creator Glen Schofield also recently detailed his plans to “fix” the industry in part via the use of generative AI in game development, and former God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio said: "... if we don’t embrace [AI], I think we’re selling ourselves short.”