Indie game jurors refuse to vote for titles using generative AI
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What happened
Nineteen jurors for the Independent Games Festival announced they will not vote for any games that used generative AI in their development. This decision affects games like House House's Big Walk, which used AI chatbots to help solve technical coding problems. House House disclosed that their use of AI was minimal and only for debugging late in the process. The overall impact of the jurors' pledge on the festival's results is not yet known, as the distribution of jurors across award categories has not been made public.
Key details
- Nineteen IGF jurors signed a pledge to exclude games using generative AI from their votes.
- House House used AI chatbots to research fixes for technical bugs in Big Walk.
- Less than 0.1% of Big Walk’s code was influenced by AI-generated suggestions.
- There are about 50 jurors in total for this year’s IGF awards.
- Steam does not require developers to disclose AI use in games.
Why it matters
Developers submitting games to the Independent Games Festival now face the risk of disqualification from some jurors if they use generative AI, even in a limited way. This creates uncertainty for studios about how their games will be judged and may influence decisions on using AI tools in development. The decision also affects the visibility and recognition that nominated games can receive, which can be critical for independent developers.