Foamstars is the next big game coming from Square Enix, which recently announced the game will be launching on February 2 and will be available on PlayStation Plus on the day of release. Unfortunately, that's not everything that was revealed about Foamstars, as the title has come under fire after producer Kosuke Okatani admitted AI was used for some of the game's art.
When asked by VGC whether Foamstars used AI at all in development, Okatani revealed that the AI tool Midjourney was used to generate art for a small number of in-game icons. For those unaware, Midjourney is a tool that allows users to input text-based prompts to receive AI-generated images in return.
Okatani goes on to clarify that "all of the core elements" in Foamstars were created by hand, but the team "did want to experiment with AI as well". Square Enix itself later clarified in a statement to VGC that AI was used in the creation of the in-game album covers for the game's original soundtrack, and that "everything else was created by our development team".
In terms of the content in the game, this makes up about 0.01% or even less, but we have dabbled in it by creating these icons in the game.
This news comes shortly after Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu stated that the company will be "aggressive" in applying AI over the coming year in an effort to enhance "development productivity." The fact that we already have a big game like Foamstars using AI-generated art so soon after these comments will likely be a cause for concern for artists pushing back against such practices.
Most people don't see AI as a problem overall, but many have been extremely critical of its use in more creative fields. Artists, writers, and voice actors specifically have been voicing their concerns over AI for months due to tools potentially taking jobs from budding creatives, with some going so far as to call generative AI stealing, as these tools commonly use the voices of established actors and existing art to generate new content.
Foamstars may only be using AI-generated art for "about 0.01% or even less" of the game's overall content, but it could potentially be a slippery slope, and one that many argue could deprive artists of work. Generative AI has enough negative PR surrounding it right now for publishers to be wary of using it in the biggest games, but Foamstars could end up being a sign of things to come.
