Heartpia The developers talked about the game's use of AI, but the community wasn't very pleased. Heartpia Despite already being a significant success in early January, the discovery is causing a backlash from those who were fans.
Heartpia It has been described as a multiplayer game, like a cross between. stardew valley and animal forestThis naturally led to many players checking it out. There are tens of thousands of players playing this game on Steam alone, with peak concurrent players exceeding 37,000. However, given that the game was released earlier this month, players are still discovering everything in the game, and some are starting to voice concerns after discovering what appear to be AI assets in the game. Now, the team has shared that the game uses AI and revealed how they utilized it.
Heartopia players are building life-sized dollhouses, convenience stores, and more.
Heartopia provides some powerful house-building tools that allow players to get creative, and Heartopia players have understood the challenge.
How Heartopia uses AI
After sharing his findings, players began asking whether AI was used in games and, if so, how. This led the game's official Discord channel to state that AI is “used to reinterpret and redraw in-game snapshot images” in the game's puzzle gameplay, and is also used in in-game chat “to help players understand different languages.” The jigsaw-style puzzle was drawn based on in-game screenshots, but appears to have been created with a more artistic look using AI. He added that the game's monetized content does not contain AI-generated material, and that this may change in the future, so the developer will announce this in advance.
Heartopia players react to AI usage.
Fans reacting to the news had generally negative opinions about the use of AI in games, with most criticizing its use in the game's puzzles. Some people have pointed out that it would be easy to simply convert the screenshots the puzzle pulls to look like drawings using a simple filter, rather than relying on generative AI, while others have suggested sticking to just screenshots for the puzzle. While some believe it is acceptable to use AI for translation, the majority of respondents are not satisfied with the way AI is used for puzzles.
Heartpia It has already faced backlash since this release due to several factors and methods. Negative reviews pointing out the game's use of AI are already appearing on Steam, and players on communities like Reddit are sharing their feedback about them. Users on the gaming Discord also attempted to share their frustrations, with some claiming the channel received a negative response. Others declared they would not play. Heartpia Unless AI content is removed from the game.
AI is a bane for gamers
Not all gamers are opposed to generative AI, but there has been a lot of backlash when other developers have revealed that they are using AI in their games. In addition to the ethical concerns players have, many have worried about building AI generated based on artwork provided without permission or payment, while others have been upset about the AI because it affects them personally as gamers. The popularity of generative AI is leading more companies to stock up on components to keep their systems up and running, leading to shortages of components for things like PC games. There are also concerns that the shortage could cause next-gen consoles to launch later than expected, and that the overall cost of games could rise due to rising prices for TV screens, PCs, consoles, and even the electricity needed to power them.
It remains to be seen whether the AI backlash will be enough to have an impact. Heartpia’s bottom line, or whether the developers will remove it to keep the player base happy.
- released
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January 8, 2026
- developer
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XD
- publisher
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XD
- number of players
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single player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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unknown
