Party Animals Studio Apologizes for $75K AI Contest

The studio behind co-op brawler Party Animals offered $75,000 in prizes for an AI-generated video contest, then walked it back within days after Steam reviews cratered. "We hoped AI could be a more accessible tool," the apology read — the exact phrasing PR writes when the honest answer is "we did not read the room." The contest launched in the same week 52% of GDC respondents called generative AI bad for the industry; players had a script ready and the studio handed them the cue card. The pattern is becoming hard to ignore: gaming studios keep treating gen-AI marketing stunts as cost-free, and they keep being expensive.