Blaze Entertainment, the maker of the handheld Evercade, today released a remaster of Duke Nukem 1 and 2 for its platform, although some fans were more worried about the remaster’s cover art. The Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered graphic released by the Evercade account was clearly AI-generated, as Twitter users quickly pointed out.
Blaze has already deleted the tweets, however, the photograph in question has been re-shared by other Twitter users. From strange-looking hands to a heaping mound of items that don’t exactly resemble anything, it bears all the markings of AI-generated art.
While Blaze has now removed any tweets regarding or depicting the image, screenshots from users reveal that the account initially backed the commissioned artist. Blaze Entertainment has recently issued a statement recognizing that the initial image was AI-generated, and that it will commission fresh artwork to replace it where possible.
The announcement reads, “An artist was commissioned to create a lead image for the new Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered game developed by Blaze Entertainment.” “It is abundantly clear from the social media responses that the work on this commission has fallen short of the expectations and standards demanded by fans as a result of the artists’ use of AI in the process.”
“Wherever possible, we are removing the art immediately, and we will be announcing a replacement commission that better meets the high standard expected in due course,” the statement reads.
On their ArtStation, Oskar Manuel, the original image’s creator, calls themselves a “professional hybrid concept artist.” Twitter users were able to locate him or her.
As AI-generated images spread throughout all tiers of the artistic community, those who commented on the debate expressed fear that this may happen more frequently.
