The world of Final Fantasy is coming to Apex Legends, but players aren’t happy with the recent launch trailer for seemingly included elements of AI art.
In a Reddit thread dated Jan. 7, a player shared screenshots of three visuals shown in the definitive FF collaboration event trailer released on Jan. 4. They circled parts that shouldn’t belong in authentic art because they’re distorted. Instead of looking like simple errors from concept artists, they appear to be AI-generated. This, however, hasn’t been confirmed by Respawn Entertainment.
“This shit is already hitting the animation industry with execs openly, and gleefully, talking about how they can’t wait to replace artists with ai,” one player said. The use of AI is controversial in the art industry and it even pushed the SAG-AFTRA strike in September 2023.
Apex players criticized the collaboration trailer as a whole and directed their anger at the devs. “What shocks me more than using IA is. They have in-house artists, not only from Respawn but other EA studios. Couldnt ask any of them to AT LEAST retouch the images?” one player said.
Others, however, argued that the Apex developer might not have a choice because the collaboration is with Final Fantasy developer Square Enix. Square boss Takashi Kiryu voiced support for AI in development and publishing earlier this month.
Apex’s Final Fantasy event kicks off on Jan. 9 and features special skins, a limited-time game mode, and more.
