As generative AI is increasingly used to create game content, developers and publishers have begun to collectively apply the brakes. Game industry lawyer Haley MacLean revealed in a recent interview with GamesRadar+ that anti-generative AI clauses are included in almost all of her clients’ contracts, and have even gradually become “standard equipment” in the industry. She said that only a few companies did this in the past two or three years, but the situation has accelerated significantly in the past year.
Players don’t pay, and copyright issues become even more of a headache.
MacLean pointed out that the reason is not just developers’ rejection of AI, but players’ own aversion to generative AI, which has also directly affected the company’s business decisions. Many customers have made it clear when negotiating contracts that they do not want to use generative AI because “the community will hate it.” On the other hand, there is still a lot of uncertainty about copyright and legal liability involved in AI-generated content. MacLean even bluntly said that the safest thing for game studios is to “don’t touch it” because the relevant legal risks are really not worth taking.
From “can it be used” to “can’t even touch the marketing”!
What’s even more interesting is that these anti-AI clauses go beyond restricting the material of the game itself. MacLean said that if the publisher is also responsible for producing art, marketing, porting or QA-related content, she would even recommend that clients extend the ban on generative AI to these aspects. In other words, AI’s current treatment in the gaming industry is a bit embarrassing. Technology companies say it is the future every day, but game developers have begun to write “Please stay away from me” in their contracts.
Lawyer’s Preview: There may really be a lawsuit next
MacLean believes that one of the biggest problems with generative AI is that legal risks may not really erupt in the future. As relevant jurisprudence, regulatory systems and copyright disputes continue to develop, she predicts that we are likely to see more litigation in the future. Nowadays, more and more game companies have written “no generative AI” into their contracts in advance. To a certain extent, they are putting on body armor for themselves to avoid copyright issues with AI-generated content, only to find that everyone is blaming each other.