Hearthstone releases a big patch? Suspected of using AI to create new avatars, official response

Hearthstone releases a big package?

At the end of October, the popular card battle game Hearthstone received an update. Version 31.0 allows players to experience the upcoming expansion The Great Dark Beyond.

However, as players delve deeper into the files, they are surprised to discover pixel-style hero avatars that Blizzard is expected to release, which appear to be generated using AI, sparking intense discussions within the community.

The cause of the incident can be traced back to social platform X (formerly Twitter) user @1000_toasters, who mined the profile data of 31.0 and found that Blizzard was planning to launch a series of pixel hero avatars, which was originally a surprise for players, but a closer look at these excavated avatars found that the details seemed to be abnormal.

Player testing AI results in controversy

@1000_toasters pointed out that although these avatars have a pixelated style, there are significant differences in the details compared to the original game characters. Another user @imik_plays also made a detailed comparison of the images.

First of all, the classic character in the game, Druid Malfurion Stormrage, had a large tattoo on his shoulder in the original version, but in the new avatar, it has become a prototype pattern. In addition, the symbol on the weapon used by warriors, the 'Doomhammer', also does not match the original image.

Image source: X @imik_plays Tweet comparison

In addition to these two cases, many avatar details have errors. For this, @1000_toasters specially used professional AI detection tools to analyze the images, and the results show that almost all avatars may have been generated by AI.

Community Manager Response: Blizzard will investigate

With the rise in discussion heat, RidiculousHat, the community manager of Hearthstone, responded. He stated that the game development team has noticed the voices of the community and will launch an investigation to confirm whether these materials are produced by AI.

After investigation, it was found that Trey Fore is the main person responsible for the pixel art. Many players believe that typical features of AI images, such as unnatural number of fingers, inconsistent spatial details, and meaningless texture patterns, can be found in his previous works. This has further intensified the speculation about whether Hearthstone is involved in AI creation.

Although @1000_toasters has removed the post and said that the original intention of publishing the post was not to let the artist be attacked, the Hearthstone incident still caused a wide discussion of AI creation in the industry.

As AI technology continues to advance, game companies can use AI to save a lot of time and money on graphic design. However, this also brings new challenges to artists and game quality, especially for games that highly rely on visual creativity.

Regardless of the final result of Blizzard's investigation, this incident reflects players' strong demand for game originality and artistic quality, and also makes people reflect on the role and boundaries of AI technology in the gaming industry.