GOG faces community backlash over generative AI use in marketing, refuses to rule out future AI

"If this can be used to advance our mission, then we will do it" - GOG faces difficult questions about gen-AI use

PC game-download store GOG has come under scrutiny for using generative-AI in marketing artwork, then for seeming to sit on the fence in an answer about whether it will keep using the tech in the future. The piece of artwork was a banner advertising a 2026 sale, which a GOG forum user, presumed to be a GOG artist, spoke out about and confirmed was created with AI. This caused a stink and so gen-AI use was one of the topics GOG was immediately questioned about during an Ask Me Anything on Reddit yesterday. Managing director Maciej Gołębiewski - when asked about the negative reaction and whether GOG would move away from gen-AI use in the future - replied: "We're not planning on making absolute statements in either direction. AI tools are one of many technologies we test and try out, and in some contexts it genuinely helps us push the company (and the mission) forward. "What we will change, though, is how and where those tools are used; we understand that using new technology doesn't mean skipping human judgment." His answer did nothing to cool or calm the crowd. I followed this response up with GOG and Gołębiewski this morning but was told GOG wouldn't elaborate on what had been said. However, I did speak to Gołębiewski at length in January, in an interview about GOG's private acquisition, and gen-AI was one of the topics we broached. "Every technology at some point finds its way to be put to good use" Gołębiewski told me at the time: "We are not using it [gen-AI] as of right now, but we've seen instances where communities have used the AI or neural network to analyse all of the code that is available for a game - all of the repositories or the documentation that's available for a game - with an aim of making it run better or maybe making it run on a different operating system or different hardware. AI is pretty good at absorbing the context and then guessing some action points based on that context. "We haven't done this in this form," he added, "but I'm sure that at some point the application of AI - not necessarily generative AI in terms of artworks or code or whatever - will be found for how this can be used to advance game preservation. Every technology at some point finds its way to be put to good use. It's just the road to that is usually windy, shaky, however you might call it. So we haven't yet, but I'm not saying we won't do it in the future. If this can be used to advance our mission, then we will do it." GOG's founding mission - and continuing mission - is restoring and preserving classic games, whether they be old classics or more modern classics, and ensuring they can be played in their best form into the future without being locked behind DRM. This often requires a lot of work on GOG's end, hence the attraction of AI in helping alleviate some of that. But GOG is a store that also sells newer games, both indie and bigger games, and that prides itself on a selective approach, and on being close to its audience and receptive to them. GOG earned plenty of respect by stocking provocative indie horror game Horses last year, when other stores, like Epic and Steam, wouldn't. "We as a company are always ready to take a stand on the right values," Maciej Gołębiewski said to me about making that decision. It's a statement that seems to grate against what it's saying now about gen-AI. GOG recently became a private company after having spent its entire existence as part of CD Projekt - the house of The Witcher games and Cyberpunk 2077. And one of the positive potential ramifications of this is not being burdened by that huge game-making business, and therefore being more agile and able to take risks, new owner Michał Kiciński explained to me recently. I wonder if this moment will be a telling one in the company's new era.

'We're not planning on making absolute statements in either direction,' GOG boss says about generative AI, leading supporters to make some absolute statements in one very specific direction: 'Absolutely terrible response'

An AI generated banner turned up on GOG last week, and efforts to clean up the mess aren't going especially well. There was a bit of a blowup in January when GOG forum users noticed a sale banner that appeared to be AI generated. In response to the initial allegations, forum member KosmicznaPluskwa, whose avatar indicates they're a senior graphics designer and member of the GOG team, confirmed that the banner "is fully AI," although they declined to go into further detail because they're not a company spokesperson and "like being employed." Here's the banner in question, courtesy of GamingOnLinux: GOG itself declined to comment officially in the immediate wake of the controversy, although a rep did say the company was "aware of the conversations happening around this topic and the assumptions that can go with it." Now it has made a statement on the matter, though, as part of an AMA on Reddit -- but the company's response isn't satisfying everyone. "We're not planning on making absolute statements in either direction," GOG managing director Maciej Gołębiewski wrote. "AI tools are one of many technologies we test and try out, and in some contexts it genuinely helps us push the company (and the mission) forward. "What we will change, though, is how and where those tools are used; we understand that using new technology doesn't mean skipping human judgment." Comment from r/gog That's not too far off the position adopted by other game companies, maybe most notably Larian, which found itself caught up in an AI-generated uproar in December. And from a long-term perspective, I suppose, it seems reasonable: Drawing hard lines on fluid situations might seem good in the moment, but as often as not it'll come around to bite you in the ass. Still, some GOG users were clearly hoping for something more definitive. "Absolutely terrible response. You need an absolute statement at this point," dragon-mom wrote in reply. "We do not want AI slop being used for GOG period. Going against the enshittification and corporate corner cutting garbage while celebrating and preserving real human art is exactly why we liked GOG in the first place. If you [aren't] willing to be that anymore then you are pointless." "GOG has built its business and reputation on certain core beliefs about DRM and ownership," hinckley added. "It's built them on the implicit belief that there are gamers out there who share those values. Yes, AI represents a distinct concept from DRM and ownership, but I'd bet a hell of a lot of money that people who have strong beliefs on one have similarly strong beliefs on the other. It is crazy to me that GOG would choose to sacrifice that reputation for a quick buck when it should be trusting in its users and doubling down on shared values about ethical business practices and the innate value of human expression." Another redditor, Gyrcas, made a salient point: "If you are not going to make a clear statement about AI and instead make some average PR speech, it will be clear that I will stay far away from your store. AI and the preservation of art are opposites, they cannot work together." TripleAgent0 was somewhat more to the point: "Maybe you should listen to your employees like KosmicznaPluskwa instead of whatever moron is directing you guys to do more AI stuff, it's not going to go well if you keep doing this shit." It goes on like that for a while. Further down the thread, Gołębiewski reposted the response so other people asking the same question could more easily see the answer, and received similar replies. I think GOG might find it hard to hunker down and wait for all of this to blow over. As numerous redditors point out, I feel like there's a perceived purity to GOG: While other storefronts are doing their utmost to squeeze every dime possible out of gamers, GOG just wants folks to play some cool games and be happy. Which is nonsense, of course (and I say that as a GOG fan), it's a business just like any other, and the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. But it does face kind of a unique challenge on that front: The role that AI might play in game preservation is already contentious -- in 2025, Xbox boss Phil Spencer imagined a world where an AI model could use gameplay data and video to recreate old games on "any platform where these models could run," which isn't game preservation at all -- and the idea that GOG, which has a monthly subscription program enabling its most ardent supporters to help cover the cost of keeping these games running, might be leaning into that tech clearly does not sit well with many gamers who think what it does is important. Comment from r/gog One redditor also expressed concern about KosmicznaPluskwa, the GOG artist, who left the GOG Cafe Discord without warning a few days after speaking out on the initial AI art controversy. "Leaving the Discord server was a personal decision and we understand it. As mentioned, spotlight and social pressure can be overwhelming, this is a difficult situation for us internally as well," Gołębiewski wrote in response. Beyond that, however, "we won't be sharing any further personal details and we'd like the community to respect that boundary."

GOG admits it used AI to create controversial New Year Sales banner

TL;DR: GOG admitted its New Year Sale banner was mistakenly published using AI-generated art, intended only as a work-in-progress. The small team uses AI tools to enhance efficiency and support game preservation efforts, acknowledging the controversy while emphasizing their commitment to DRM-free classic PC games. GOG was caught using AI in a recent banner image, and now the company comes clean and admits that the promos were made with AI, but it wasn't meant to be published. Typically, gamers have a positive outlook on GOG, a store that sells classic PC games that have either disappeared or are very hard to find. That's not the case with a recent controversy, and GOG was caught using artificial intelligence in some of the art used for its New Year Sale promo. GOG has since clarified exactly what happened to the subscribers of its new GOG Patrons program. In a private Discord, a GOG representative confirmed that the New Year Sale art was created using AI, but it wasn't meant to be pushed live as part of the sale, nor was it meant to be published at all. The GOG rep goes on to say that the company explores various technologies that could give them an edge--GOG is rather small, and the rep insists that AI helps even the odds a bit, at least in this case. From the sound of it, GOG is using AI for image mockups, which isn't unheard of, but this creation accidentally got pushed live as part of the promo. Check below for the GOG rep's quote in full, as taken from the Discord server for GOG Patrons, courtesy of Kotaku: "Hi everyone, I'd like to address the case of our recent New Year Sale banner. "First of all, regarding the quality of the asset: This banner was a work-in-progress asset that we mistakenly allowed to be displayed on the storefront. This shouldn't have happened. We failed on at least two levels: Quality-control of the asset that landed on the front page, and then reacting quickly enough when we noticed the error. "Second, I want to confirm that this WIP asset was indeed made with the help of AI tools. We hear your disappointment with the use of this technology, and see that it's a sensitive topic for many of you. "I also want to be honest about how we chose to explore technology: We don't have the infinite resources of the industry giants. We're a dedicated, but small team, working our asses off every day for game preservation. To keep that mission alive, bring more games back to life, and make more games DRM-free, we experiment with tools that can allow us to do more with the limited hands we have. "We've been testing different technologies since our beginnings. Some experiments are successful, and some (like this banner) are not. Exploring various tech gives us the reach of a much larger team, so we never have to settle for doing less."

GOG Says Game Banner Ad Was Made With AI But Claims It Was Shared By Mistake

The retro game store told paying patrons that it hears their 'disappointment' Last week, digital PC gaming storefront Good Old Games (GOG) found itself at the center of online controversy after users claimed a banner ad for a big sales event was created using AI tools. The firestorm only grew larger when a GOG employee seemingly confirmed the ad was created using AI. However, GOG wouldn't confirm with Kotaku how the banner ad was made. But it has since explained the situation to paying supporters in a private Discord server. On February 2, Kotaku received a screenshot of a message addressing the New Year Sale AI-generated banner situation that was posted in the official GOG Patron Discord server earlier in the day. This is a special Discord server created by GOG for fans who pay $5 a month to be a part of the store's Patron program, which lets them talk to other like-minded users while helping to guide the future of the store and being credited when old games are saved. In the message, a GOG employee with the username Arthur Slay confirmed that the banner was made "with the help of AI tools" but claimed it was still a "work-in-progress" and wasn't meant to be displayed on the store publicly. Kotaku believes this user is a GOG marketing employee, Arthur Dejardin. "This shouldn't have happened," posted Arthur Slay. "We failed on at least two levels: Quality-control of the asset that landed on the front page, and then reacting quickly enough when we noticed the error." Arthur further said that GOG hears all the "disappointment" and acknowledged that it's "a sensitive topic for many of you." As for why they used AI tools? Arthur says GOG has been testing different "technologies" ever since the store was founded. "Some experiments are successful, and some (like this banner) are not." Arthur added: "Exploring various tech gives us the reach of a much larger team, so we never have to settle for doing less." "I also want to be honest about how we chose to explore technology," posted Arthur. "We don't have the infinite resources of the industry giants. We're a dedicated, but small team, working our asses off every day for game preservation. To keep that mission alive, bring more games back to life, and make more games DRM-free, we experiment with tools that can allow us to do more with the limited hands we have." On January 30, after the ad was called out online in numerous places, GOG told Kotaku via email that it was unable to "comment publicly on our internal processes or tools." Kotaku has contacted GOG about this Discord message and why the store didn't share these details with us last week. Here is the full message from the private Discord as shared with Kotaku: