„Guess $158 pets aren't enough to pay an artist.” Blizzard gets slammed again for using AI in its game

Using AI these days is a near-certain way to upset fans and lose their respect - especially when it comes to arts and culture. Blizzard Entertainment has once again earned the ire of their community. This time it's due to promo art, used to illustrate an upcoming collab between Diablo Immortal and the card game Hearthstone.

They did it again

According to fans, this art is certainly AI generated, either entirely or partially. They didn't stop at just making an accusation and examined the entire image, looking for evidence of AI usage. Obviously they found it, with the developers getting showered with criticism.

Fans are also protesting against Blizzard's frequent aggressive monetization practices. One especially heated case was a pet, King Krush, recently available as a gacha pull in Hearthstone. The chances of getting him early were extremely low, with each subsequent pull getting more expensive.

Players are mad at Blizzard's perceived lack of care for their products, their employed artists and the fans themselves. AI generated imagery often looks amateurish and is full of errors one can easily spot. Use of AI is therefore becoming synonymical with cutting costs.

Players are even more disappointed given Hearthstone's famous and respected artstyle, said to be created without use of AI. Now, however, fans are having doubts. On the other hand, the art piece in question was shared on Diablo Immortal's X profile, developed by NetEaste (and published by Activision Blizzard). Hearthstone, meanwhile, is developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Therefore it's unclear who exactly to blame.

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