The Alters developers admit to undisclosed use of generative AI for translations and background text
Following a few screenshots that stirred up a debate about The Alters' undisclosed use of generative AI this weekend, the studio has finally issued a statement.
Over the weekend, 11 Bit Studios, the team behind this month’s indie hit The Alters, has been at the center of a generative AI debate. This was sparked when a screenshot was shared on Bluesky, suggesting that some text in the background had been translated using a generative AI, such as ChatGPT. This screenshot was especially egregious as it appears to have left in responses from the AI, such as “Sure, here’s a revised version focusing purely on scientific and astronomical data:” which sounds like the immediate response to a prompt given to a service like ChatGPT. Other users have also pointed out that many of the translated subtitles in the game suggest AI use as well. After a few days of silence, 11 Bit Studios has finally shared a response.
The Alters developers are caught using generative AI for background text and translations
The Alters is a fascinating game. The story follows Jan, the sole survivor of an expedition to an alien planet. To survive, he uses a resource found on the planet to tap into alternate realities. So, not exactly clones, Jan’s “alters” are versions of himself that made different decisions at some point in their life, perhaps to become an engineer or a botanist. Exactly the kinds of skills that will be useful in surviving on an alien planet. But what makes The Alters so fascinating is that it goes much deeper than just choosing which alters to create or how to manage them, but also navigating the complex relationships Jan has with his other selves. Not all of them will be happy with their situation. You can read Giancarlo Saldana’s review of The Alters for Gamepressure, calling it ”a gripping, existential survival experience that explores identity, regret, and self-acceptance in a way few games attempt.”
The unique story, and how well 11 Bit Studios pulled it off, makes this AI controversy sting even more. It’s a sloppy, unnecessary blemish on an otherwise excellent game. Eurogamer shared some interesting perspectives, including some people who worked on translating The Alters for other regions. In a post on LinkedIn, Lucile Danilov, a game localization specialist, shared some thoughts. “Look, I love The Alters. It’s brilliantly written, and I was planning on leaving it a glowing Steam review once I was done. But this is a disgrace.” Handong Ryu, who handled translating The Alters for Korean audiences, replied, saying, “Unfortunately, the same issue exists in the Korean version… I can confirm that the same section of the Korean localization shows clear signs of having been run through an LLM without proper editing.”
Some other people have shared that this didn’t make much of a difference to them, though, pointing out that this text is a minor detail hidden away in the background, arguing it was never meant to be something that the player would actually read. However, regardless of how anyone feels about the situation or the use of generative AI in video games, Steam requires developers to disclose whether AI has been used in their game, which 11 Bit Studios did not do.
Since this story gained traction, 11 Bit Studios shared a lengthy response on Bluesky explaining the context. First, they addressed the screenshot that included the responses to the generative AI prompt. They explained that this was meant to be a placeholder and “was never intended to be part of the final release. Unfortunately, due to an internal oversight, this single placeholder text was mistakenly left in the game.” 11 Bit Studios added a screenshot to showcase where this screenshot can be found in the game, saying, “While we do not want to downplay the situation, we also want to clearly show its limited impact on your gaming experience.”
11 Bit Studios also shared what happened with the translations of subtitles in the game. As an optional activity in The Alters, players can watch a few licensed movies within the game. This feature was apparently added very late into development, which meant last-minute translations. “Due to extreme time constraints, we chose not to involve our translation partners and had these videos localized using AI to have them ready on launch.” The team explained that this text amounts to roughly 0.3% of the 3.4 million words found in the game across all languages. They further explained that “the alternative was to release those specific dialogues in English only, which we believed would be a worse experience for non-English speakers. In hindsight, we acknowledge this was the wrong call. Even more so, no matter what we decided, we should have simply let you know.”
The responses on Bluesky have not been forgiving. Many of the top reactions don’t feel that 11 Bit Studios was being genuine, suggesting that they are more sorry for getting caught than anything else. One user also points out that at the time of writing, there is still no disclosure of AI use on Steam.
So, 11 Bit Studios did indeed use AI and acknowledged their mistakes in that department. Additionally, the team stated in their announcement that the affected text is being corrected. The main question that this whole situation raises, beyond the use of generative AI in video games, is how much is too much and how much is forgivable? Will fans forgive using AI on such a small portion of the game? Or is even 0.3% too much? Regardless, developers should always be transparent with consumers about the use of AI, no matter how small. For now, we’ll have to wait to see how fans react.
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