GOG Under Fire From Customers and Even One of Its Own Employees After Users Call Out ‘Fully AI’ Sale Image – IGN

DRM-free PC storefront GOG.com has come under fire for promoting a sale with a ‘fully AI’ image, sparking a backlash from customers and even a member of the company’s staff.

A few days back, an eagle-eyed GOG user noticed that an image on the front page of the site’s storefront contained many telltale signs of generative AI, including a weirdly old-fashioned TV and what appears to be something like a Super Nintendo console system melting onto a table, which is a strange image indeed for a website selling PC games. As one Redditor joked, “[This is] me after I blast my NES with a heat gun for six hours and settle in to look at the side profile of my 50 year-old-TV.”

“Using AI art like this feels directly at odds with the whole reason I buy things from their storefront to begin with,” wrote one unhappy commenter. “Deeply disappointing, and will probably hold off on buying from GOG for the foreseeable future because of it.” Another added: “As long as GOG is using generative AI images or coding I will never buy another game from their site. This is extremely disappointing. It goes completely against my values and the value of human art preservation I care about GOG for. I’m not budging on this.”

Not everyone cares, though. “Downvote as much as you want. I don’t care they used AI generated images,” wrote one player. “This crusade against AI will achieve nothing. Sooner or later AI will shrink the job markets for people who works at a desk (like myself). Most of us will have to find other sources of income.”

Another person who does seem to have an issue with it, however, is a member of GOG’s own design team. Tagged as an official member of staff on GOG’s own forum (thanks, GamingonLinux), senior graphic designer “Kosmiczna Pluskwa” commented on the banner image, and confirmed that the “current sale banner is fully AI.”

Before giving their thoughts on the drama, they took great pains to emphasize that they were “not a company spokesperson,” that they were commenting “because I personally want to, not because it’s my obligation or anyone asks me to do that,” stressing: “That also means I have no PR training and also what I say it’s my opinion not company’s stance or anything.”

“My team is much smaller now than it used to be, and the requirements for the role are completely different than it used to be,” they explained, appending a job description from around five years ago.

“I have a lot of strong feelings on AI in marketing art — and in general of course, but marketing art [is] the closest to my heart,” they added. “Just 5ish [years] ago everything you’d see was something someone has spent time on, even if it wasn’t the best, so it was worth being looked at — for me at least.

“Maybe it doesn’t matter some store put out sloppy work on promo banner — in the end everyone is just there to buy the product — but I know I enjoy seeing cool new artworks out there, when I’m out to buy new products as well. When I buy a new cool figure I like to keep the box around if it’s pretty — this is kind of the same, but on digital level. More cool art to see on top of buying art (video games in our case here) is always more cool art in the world and this is what I’m happy to have. So with everyone also feeling strongly in this thread — I’m with you. And continue speaking up — in the face of future we don’t like to see, complacency is not the way.”

At the time of writing, the banner is still live on GOG.com. IGN has asked GOG for comment.

The use of generative AI in game development is one of the hottest topics in the industry, and it has sparked a number of controversies. Following the reveal of Divinity at the 2025 The Game Awards, Swen Vincke, boss of developer Larian, met with a backlash after he said the studio was using genAI in various capacities. Larian ended up having to address AI concerns in a reddit AMA in which the studio confirmed a U-turn on some aspects of its use.

And this week, RuneScape maker Jagex insisted it would never use generative AI to make content players actually see in-game, in one of the hardest stances on AI yet seen from a video game developer.

However, some video game companies have gone all-in on the tech. The CEO of Genvid — the company behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive series Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed “consumers generally do not care” about generative AI, and stated that: “Gen Z loves AI slop.” EA CEO Andrew Wilson, meanwhile, has said AI is “the very core of our business,” and Square Enix recently implemented mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to be “aggressive in applying AI.” Dead Space creator Glen Schofield also recently detailed his plans to “fix” the industry in part via the use of generative AI in game development, and former God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio said: “… if we don’t embrace [AI], I think we’re selling ourselves short.”

Outside of video games, some entertainment companies are banning the use of genAI altogether. For example, Games Workshop recently banned the use of generative AI for the production of its designs and content, a decision many Warhammer fans welcomed.

Last month, CD Projekt sold GOG to its original co-founder, Michał Kiciński, for 90.7 million Polish złoty (approx. $25.2 million), allowing it to operate independently.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.