Saturday Aug 29
CULTUREOther

Humankind 2 Proved Its Trailer Was Real

29AUG
AI CHECKREAL CREW

Suspicion flipped at Gamescom. Humankind 2's live action trailer got called AI slop, so the studio had to name the film studio, the actors, and the props. Being real is now something you prove.

The trailer was shot at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia with practical sets and custom props. The studio promised behind the scenes footage as proof.

The suspicion is earned. Kotaku counted eight Opening Night Live games with disclosed genAI, and several studios only admitted it after players found it.

Money is moving the other way. Hoyoverse is putting up to $14 billion into in house AI tools. Krafton says it is now an AI first company.

full brief & sources

⚡ Why this matters

  • Disclosure rules were built to protect players from undisclosed AI. They did not plan for real work having to defend itself.
  • Once suspicion is the default, the burden of proof lands on studios that did nothing wrong.

🔍 What happened

  • Humankind 2's live action trailer was accused of being AI generated after Gamescom Opening Night Live.
  • The studio named Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, the practical sets, and the custom props, and promised behind the scenes footage.
  • Kotaku counted eight Opening Night Live titles with disclosed generative AI, including Project Zeta, Aion 2, Train Sim World 7, Like or Die, and PUBG Ded.Net.
  • Crimson Desert and 1666: Amsterdam developers apologized after players spotted genAI they had not disclosed.
  • Aniimo admitted genAI use on Discord with no matching Steam disclosure.
  • Hoyoverse is committing up to $14 billion to in house AI tooling; Krafton has declared itself an AI first company.

💬 Smart takes

  • Jonas Kyratzes, narrative designer on The Talos Principle 3: 'I think in the current system that we have, it's just a plagiarism machine that makes people lose their jobs.'
  • Ash Parrish at Kotaku noted that genAI-free games are now getting tarred by suspicions or accusations.
  • Several developers only confirmed genAI use after players surfaced the evidence themselves.

🧭 Where this goes

  1. Likelymore studios ship behind the scenes footage alongside trailers as standard practice.
  2. Possibleplatform disclosure labels get extended to cover marketing assets, not just shipped games.
  3. Wild Carda studio gets falsely accused, proves it, and sues over the damage.

🥄 The Spoon Take

The cost of AI slop is not landing on the studios using it. It is landing on the ones that did not. When suspicion is free and proof is expensive, honest work pays the tax. That is the part the disclosure rules did not plan for.

🤔 Pushback

Outrage on gaming forums rarely shows up in sales, and the same players buy the disclosed games anyway.

·Opening Night Live 2026: the genAI slop games Geoff Keighley showed·Humankind 2 trailer accused of being AI slop, studio says nope: real actors, practical sets and custom made props·The Talos Principle 3's writers on generative AI: it's just a plagiarism machine