Tim Bender, CEO of indie publisher Hooded Horse, told Kotaku that the company now requires developers to promise they will not ship AI-generated art when Hooded Horse is the publisher.
Bender used blunt language. He said, “I f*****g hate gen AI art,” and added that contracts now include the line ‘no fucking AI assets.’ He told Kotaku he urges teams not to use generative AI anywhere in development, not even for placeholder art.
Enforcing that kind of rule is a practical challenge. Some studios have leaned on generative tools during pre-production to speed concept work, and publishers have different approaches. Bender called the problem persistent and said his teams are constantly watching for AI art “because it’s cancerous.”
Hooded Horse is not a tiny shop. The publisher recently said it sold more than 4.5 million copies across its catalog last year, which helps explain why its stance matters for a chunk of the indie market. Whether other publishers follow suit will come down to contract enforcement and how studios choose to use generative systems in their pipelines. For now, Hooded Horse is drawing a clear line: if it’s publishing your game, no AI assets in the final product.
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