Party Animals AI contest sparks full-blown revolt as fans review bomb the game

Fans of Party Animals are overwhelmingly not on board with the game’s new AI video contest, as the game’s user review take a sharp nose dive.

Despite its widespread unpopularity, generative AI continues to worm its way into video games, with a lot of big name publishers like Microsoft and Capcom expressing interest in the technology.

Some games have managed to get away with incorporating generative AI, with Arc Raiders openly admitting to using AI voicework and still becoming very popular. Others not so much, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Crimson Desert removing and apologising for their use of AI artwork they claim was only included by mistake.

Now, it’s multiplayer game Party Animals’ turn to deal with player ire and backlash, with its community turning on it after it announced an AI video contest.

Initially released in 2023 for Xbox consoles and PC, with a PlayStation 5 port dropping last year, Party Animals is a physics-based party game where players take control of cartoon animals and fight to be the last one standing.

It’s a deliberately silly kind of game, with players flopping and falling over the place, and it’s been relatively successful, earning positive reviews and nominations for Best Multiplayer at The Game Awards in 2023 and the BAFTA Games Awards in 2024.

The point is it had a good reputation; one that’s now in jeopardy thanks to the aforementioned AI video contest. The announcement came yesterday, with Party Animals fans encouraged to submit AI generated videos for a chance to win a share of $75,000 (about £55,500) of cash prizes.

‘A short film you’ve been dreaming of making, a story that breaks all the rules, a character tribute to your favourite beast… In the past, ideas like these could only exist in your head. Now, with AI, they finally have a chance to become reality,’ reads the X post.

The rules state that entries must primarily be made with AI tools, but there’s no mention of submissions needing to only be based on Party Animals.

Amusingly, the rules also say that plagiarism is not tolerated when that’s one of the key issues with AI-generated videos and art – they’re not making anything original and are stealing from other sources.

Not that any of this matters as the response has been overwhelmingly negative. ‘Just a hunch here. But you know how all the artists and creative on your team no doubt told you this was a terrible idea. It is. Fire the dumb ass that pushed for this. He might’ve tanked this games reputation,’ reads the top response on X by RubberRoss.

‘2.6 million views, 454 likes, and 2,050 quotes with a probably large chunk bringing attention to your poor choice and either uninstalling your game, cancelling their plans to buy it, or otherwise vote with their wallets. (Like I am. Y’all ain’t getting a single red cent from me.)’ reads another by VTuber Starjumpersix.

‘Congrats, this could have been a proper art contest that got you more good will, attention, and maybe even more revenue, but now you got the opposite,’ says Anura Litho.

Even the PartyAnimalsAIVideoContest hashtag, which is supposed to be used for video submissions, has barely any activity and most of the X posts are angry reactions and disparaging comments.

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This anger has seeped over to the game’s Steam page, where you can see it’s become flooded with over 1,000 negative reviews since yesterday, after years of mostly positive feedback.

‘Literally cannot believe the stupidity in hosting an AI art contest,’ says Bepis, who has over 38 hours of play time on Party Animals.

CowBells, who has over 59 hours of play time, doesn’t mention the contest, but it’s obvious what their review is referring to: ‘You could’ve shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed. It was perfect. But, no, you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man. If you’d done your job, known your place, we’d all be fine right now.’

‘Their AI video contest announcement is beyond disappointing, destroying a beloved game’s reputation, if they don’t backpedal there is no future for this game,’ writes RukiHyena, who has over 104 hours of playtime.

At the time of writing, the Party Animals account has not issued any follow-up comments nor has the game’s developer, Recreate Games, responded to the backlash.

It’s also too soon to tell if player numbers will be seriously impacted by this, but you can assume there’s not going to be any more AI contests after this.

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