Catly Creator Says Game Has No Generative AI, No Blockchain, and No NFTs

The developer of recently-announced virtual pet simulator game Catly has responded to allegations that the game's trailer and marketing was produced using generative AI, saying that no such technology was used in its announcement at The Game Awards, nor in the game itself.

In a statement shared with IGN, a PR representative authorized to speak on behalf of developer SuperAuthenti said that generative AI was not used to produce the trailer, nor the game. Furthermore, the representative said the developer was "very surprised by such speculations," adding that "We do not think there are any existing AI tools that can produce a video like that. Industry experts have echoed this opinion."

The PR representative also showed IGN a version of the trailer from The Game Awards that showed in-progress shots interspersed alongside the final version, which did seem to confirm the lack of AI use in the actual trailer production.

Additionally, the PR representative said that other allegations suggesting that Catly was a blockchain game were similarly unfounded. They said that there has been "zero blockchain technology" involved in Catly or the company behind it, SuperAuthenti, and similarly there are no NFTs. "Our company/project has never issued any blockchain currency and any NFTs. Our company does not and has never owned any blockchain currency and NFTs."

The spokesperson confirmed to IGN that Catly is being made in Unreal Engine 5, and said the developer uses "various software" to produce hyperrealistic fur and hair.

Assertions that Catly was using generative AI technology began to circulate almost immediately after its trailer debuted at The Game Awards last week. The trailer itself featured hyperrealistic cats with brightly colored fur and features bounding around a fantasy playspace and interacting with a human wearing various detailed, high fashion outfits. The art style present was flagged by many critics as reminiscent of the hyperrealistic style often produced by generative AI. That said, Catly's statement is consistent with the current reality that game trailers of this quality are not within the reach of current generative AI technology without significant, obvious artifacting and other issues.

However, others pointed out that while the trailer may be legit, the other aspects of Catly's promotion are still giving some off vibes. For instance, the game's Steam description awkwardly reads, "A Cat Open World, with Beautiful Cats. Hyperrealism, Actions, Cuddle, Speed, Islands, Fashion, Dreams, Snow, Robots, Plants -- all with and via Cats."

And a few of the game's promotional art pieces had odd details similar to AI artifacting, such as the odd paws and nose of this cat:

And the text on the wall inside the right-hand side of the building in this image:

Others unearthed more images from the official Catly website that appear to raise even more questions about their veracity. Notably, the Catly website was down as recently as Friday, and remained offline over the weekend through today when we reached out to SuperAuthenti to ask about it. The website has since been reinstated, but a number of the old images have been removed.

While SuperAuthenti confirmed to me that it did not use generative AI in either the trailer or the game itself, it did not respond to my question about its promotional images on Steam or on its website.

As for web3, speculation of the game's ties to the technology surfaced as individuals unearthed the studio co-founder, Kevin Yeung's, ties to other blockchain games. Additionally, the game's Steam page features a glowing quote from League of Legends and Arcane producer Thomas Vu, who himself is a prominent web3 investor. However, it also contained a quote from Hearthstone and Marvel Snap creator Ben Brode, who has taken to Bluesky to say that he's heard nothing about either AI generation or web3 involved in Catly, and that his interest is sincere. "I saw 20 [minutes] or so of gameplay footage a few months back and thought it looked cool so they asked me for a quote," he wrote.

For now, it does seem that SuperAuthenti is telling the truth about the Catly trailer at The Game Awards, though the question of whether or not, or how much, generative AI has been used in Catly's overall development and promotion remains to be seen. Generative AI is becoming an increasingly popular tool for game companies, too. Call of Duty reportedly sold an "AI-generated cosmetic" for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late 2023, and fans accused Activision of using generative AI again for a loading screen this year. EA said in September that AI was "the very core" of its business.

Unfortunately, as the technology becomes both more prevalent and more complex, it seems likely it will become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between AI-generated and human-crafted work. In Catly's case, we'll have to wait for 2025 to find out more about what exactly is behind those hauntingly rainbow cat eyes from the trailer.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].