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General discussion5,000+ GOG patrons and an AI Banner(661 posts)(661 posts)
(661 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: And here I thought GOG was worth giving a second chance after the recent change of owners.
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SargonAelther: You make your game buying decisions based on promotional banners?

As long as GOG sells DRM-FREE games with offline installers, I'll keep shopping here.
Yes, I make purchasing decisions based on my ethical values. I don't think that's so weird because you clearly do the same.
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: Yes, I make purchasing decisions based on my ethical values. I don't think that's so weird because you clearly do the same.
I'd call it a tangible/practical value, but fair enough.
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: And here I thought GOG was worth giving a second chance after the recent change of owners.
You expected immediate and significant change in how the business advertises and runs while the ink is still drying on the legal papers?
Posted January 26, 2026
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Catventurer: Let's be honest with ourselves.

When AI is used to eliminate job positions, those employees are just put out of work.
Well, let’s be honest with ourselves: that's how an economy works. It has always worked like that, and it always will. Machines replaced seasonal workers on farms (or workers on construction sites, or people assembling things on production lines, or, or, or). Computers replaced a crapload of people working in offices. Emails replaced postmen. Autonomous vehicles will replace taxi drivers and truckers. And AI (in combination with all kinds of robots) will replace an unthinkable number of other jobs.

Honestly? We have two options:

1. We grab our torches and pitchforks, riot against AI (and any other kind of evolution and technological advancement) and demand that every single person has the right to a nine-to-five job - and, of course, the right to complain about how much we hate work and our greedy bosses, about how governments take more and more of the money we've earned, about how bad all that pressure is for our mental health, and so on.

2. We embrace every tiny bit of progress that costs more jobs, until hardly anyone has a job anymore and our economic system destroys itself (no jobs means no money, no money means no purchasing power, no purchasing power means no profit-oriented companies). At the end of the day, we will have no choice but to abolish money (or give it away "for free", which makes money worthless) and think about what a new system could look like. That will, of course, destroy our banking and insurance systems (and our current political system and some of our so-called "freedoms"). And we will no longer get a new, cutting-edge, so-much-better smartphone every year. And devices will no longer be built to break right after the warranty expires, with repairs costing more than buying a new one. And we will no longer have jobs that destroy our health and make an excessively expensive healthcare system necessary. And we will no longer have to worry about how ever fewer young, working people are supposed to finance an ever-aging population that no longer works. And we will need new reasons for why we wage wars - because resources and money will no longer be a reason to get rid of "drug dealing dictators" or to "protect an opressed minority" in a neighbouring country from a nazi-president who used to play sketches in comedy shows (just to name two recent examples)...

In the coming decades, we will make countless technological advances that will destroy more and more jobs. We can demonize and ban these advances. Or we can consider what advantages a world would have in which there is hardly any need for human labor anymore, or any economic reasons to kill people and our planet.

Get used to AI. It won't go away. It'll have more impact on us than the internet had. And I'm not talking about some stupid banner on a meaningless website!
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: And here I thought GOG was worth giving a second chance after the recent change of owners.
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Braggadar: You expected immediate and significant change in how the business advertises and runs while the ink is still drying on the legal papers?
No, but the recent interviews do not fill me with confidence that I should expect positive change. I stopped buying stuff on GOG (I made an exception for Horses) after they removed Devotion for political reasons, and while the new leadership admitted they handled it badly, they never said that removing it was a mistake or that they might let it return to the store.

I'm still hoping they'll do better, that's why I visit the store to see how things are here. However, being welcomed with AI slop on the front page dampens my hopes for the positive change here. It makes this store look like a cheap key reseller, and the fact that no one in the company has raised any concerns about this, and they went with it, makes me feel like problems with GOG are running deep.
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: I stopped buying stuff on GOG (I made an exception for Horses) after they removed Devotion for political reasons, and while the new leadership admitted they handled it badly, they never said that removing it was a mistake or that they might let it return to the store.
Assuming the order to throw Devotion under the bus came from CDP's desire to protect the sales of Cyberpunk, I was hoping the divorce with CDP would allow them to re-evaluate the situation and maybe even extend an olive branch to Red Candle games.

That being said, there's no guarantee that Red Candle would want anything to do with GOG after getting promised things, only to get stabbed in the back afterwards. I believe Zoom tried to reach out to them, but Red Candle did not want anything to do with them either. It's only business with Steam. With everyone else, devs can afford to take things personally.

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Aver: the fact that no one in the company has raised any concerns about this, and they went with it, makes me feel like problems with GOG are running deep.
How do you know that no one raised concerns? It takes one pro-AI superior to overrule a dozen AI critics beneath them.

I disagree with my bosses about a lot of things at my job, but I don't make the decisions.
Post edited January 26, 2026 by SargonAelther
Posted January 26, 2026
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Jinini: Are u calling this person a liar, then?
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/at_least_this_banner_isnt_ai_tooright/post49/?staff=yes
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vv221: Yes.
You're an idiot. And your post history reflects that.
Posted January 26, 2026
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Aver: the fact that no one in the company has raised any concerns about this, and they went with it, makes me feel like problems with GOG are running deep.
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SargonAelther: How do you know that no one raised concerns? It takes one pro-AI superior to overrule a dozen AI critics beneath them.

I disagree with my bosses about a lot of things at my job, but I don't make the decisions.
Well, I meant no one with the power to make decisions. I'm sure there are some people working there who think that plastering the front page with slop is a bad thing.

I hope GOG will do better than this in the future, but I can't say I'm too optimistic.
Posted January 26, 2026
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No matter what I keep having a soft spot for the forums so I've decided to chip in here now as well ^^

I totally understand some people wont trust anything I say and honestly it's fine. There are a lot of things I can't say after all, and I have to be careful speaking here with my blue employee font because in the end I like 1) being employed 2) working here specifically, done a lot of amazing projects with really great and dedicated people (most recently, the GOG Replay!) and I'm looking forward for more.
Just want to add, if the company had enough foresight to hire me over 8 years ago to pretend AI is not AI today then we would probably surpass steam already with such a brilliance xd

Additionally, I am not a company spokesperson and anytime I come to comment here or on discord it's because I personally want to, not because it's my obligation or anyone asks me to do that. That also means I have no PR training and also what I say it's my opinion not company's stance or anything.

OK, so to clear the air - current sale banner is fully AI. Not my work. This is all I can say on this.
My team is much smaller now than it used to be, and the requirements for the role are completely different than it used to be - it's possible to find job offers descriptions from less than a year ago and 5+ years ago to compare, if anyone is curious. I believe this is the one I got hired on https://stgu.pl/oferty-pracy/adds-graphic_designer_287.html

(Ramble time now)
I have a lot of strong feelings on AI in marketing art - and in general of course but marketing art the closest to my heart. Just 5ish ago everything you'd see was something someone has spent time on, even if it wasn't the best, so it was worth being looked at - for me at least. This is no more and it breaks my heart. Recently I even ran into a post showing pictures from a tourist shop in Mont Saint-Michel - super beautiful place, look it up!- and it was just full of stupid items with the likeness of the abbey recreated in AI; tshirts, stickers, cups, you name it, a shitty rendition, messy in the details, weird and unnecessary colors, that odd smooth glossiness and the place is literally there, even a photo would look better. But they still opted for AI for some reason. When I was there last time you'd see two or three drawn versions of the abbey circulating in every single shop, no extra variety, a bit basic for my personal taste but still charming in it's traditional average-tourist-baity thing. I feel the same way about ugly animal mascots on packagings, weird font choices on banners, kitsch photoshop collages - imperfect but with a thought that I also makes me stop and think, what made you, a fellow graphic designer create this this way? I was going through old illustration books at my parents home, found one I always loved as a child, looked up the illustrator online and messaged her to let her know how it had an impact on me 30 years ago. Her instagram is full of cute handcrafted items and pictures she makes for her loved ones, she was happy to get my message, she talked about remembering creating these characters in the book and making sure it would be something children will enjoy seeing; and I was happy to see more artwork she puts out there, after so many years still, hopefully continuing to have an impact on these around her as she did on me. So many children books nowadays are fully AI now, with uneven artstyle even within one the same story. With no extra thought on what makes the characters appealing and special for these specific books. It's just miserable to think about how surrounded and how ever-present it all is now. How will it affect us as the humanity. And no, I don't think it will destroy art altogether but the omnipresence of it will not not go without it's effect on us as a whole. Maybe it doesn't matter some store put out sloppy work on promo banner - in the end everyone is just there to buy the product - but I know I enjoy seeing cool new artworks out there, when I'm out to buy new products as well. When I buy a new cool figure I like to keep the box around if it's pretty - this is kind of the same, but on digital level. More cool art to see on top of buying art (video games in our case here) is always more cool art in the world and this is what I'm happy to have. So with everyone also feeling strongly in this thread - I'm with you. And continue speaking up - in the face of future we don't like to see, complacency is not the way.
(ramble finished)
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.erercott: Furthermore, the should revive GOG-chan and not some AI generated loon.
I'll forever be grateful for the love GOG-chan keeps on getting!
Posted January 26, 2026
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KosmicznaPluskwa: OK, so to clear the air - current sale banner is fully AI. Not my work. This is all I can say on this.
Thanks for admitting that.

I was not expecting it, but for what it’s worth you gained my trust. I am sorry for disbelieving your earlier claims about the Winter banner (without admitting that other banners are indeed generated by AI it sounded like a way to pretend that GOG does not use such images at all).

And I am especially sorry that your work gets polluted by the current trend, both by cheapening your art and because of the distrust by default we now have to adopt. The only good news is that it is not here to stay for long, especially in artistic fields. Long enough to sabotage carriers, sadly, but not long enough to kill real art.
Post edited January 26, 2026 by vv221
Posted January 26, 2026
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vv221: [..] The only good news is that it is not here to stay for long, especially in artistic fields. [...]
Sooo… how long do you think it would take? When should I come back and tell you that you were wrong? Two years? Five years? Ten years? Twenty-five?

And of course, if you turn out to be right and it does disappear, then you can tell me how wrong I was.

I am very willing to be proven wrong. In many ways, I hope I am. But I’m also not delusional enough to pretend I live in an alternative reality where everything happens exactly as I want it to. The genie is out of the bottle now, it will be very hard putting the cork back.
Posted January 26, 2026
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KosmicznaPluskwa: Mont Saint-Michel - super beautiful place, look it up!
Funnily enough, theres a decorative plate featuring it on the wall in front of me (from about 40 years ago).
...and well said!
Posted January 26, 2026
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KosmicznaPluskwa: ... hire me over 8 years ago ...
KosmicznaPluskwa, thank you for remaining with GOG for such an extended period of time; you are an asset. : )

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KosmicznaPluskwa: I'll forever be grateful for the love GOG-chan keeps on getting!
If the opportunity presents itself, please encourage open-minded superiors (or, the new owner himself) to allow for additional promotional art featuring GOG-chan. This style (in particular) is quite cute! (^_^)
Posted January 26, 2026
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vv221: I was not expecting it, but for what it’s worth you gained my trust.
I appreciate it a lot. Current reality makes it hard to give a definite judgement on anything we see, sadly

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KosmicznaPluskwa: Mont Saint-Michel - super beautiful place, look it up!
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Sachys: Funnily enough, theres a decorative plate featuring it on the wall in front of me (from about 40 years ago).
Ahh what a nice coincidence! :D

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Palestine: If the opportunity presents itself, please encourage open-minded superiors (or, the new owner himself) to allow for additional promotional art featuring GOG-chan. This style (in particular) is quite cute! (^_^)
This is one of my favorite gogchans I've made! Will make it happen when the opportunity comes
Post edited January 26, 2026 by KosmicznaPluskwa
Posted January 26, 2026
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Vainamoinen: As the banner is no longer available (or is it?), I'm going to assume it wasn't created by AI
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paladin181: Banner is still right here:
Thanks.

As I thought, that's not AI.

It's an off center composition with consistent lighting, skillfully applied off focus in the foreground, plus an interesting application of negative space and the repoussoir, adding depth. The seated figure has his legs crossed (AI reliably fucks up any kind of foreshortening) and even the right amount of fingers.

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alaric.us: First it was the History of Photography. People were creating pretty much this same kind of ... uhh ... content when photography was first invented. Oh how mad they were! Same arguments, though: "The death of an artist by the hands of a soulless machine! The tragic end of the human spirit! Oh, woe is us, the end of times!"
Illustrators embraced photography. Innumerable artists that I love worked from photography. From Andrew Loomis' "Creative Illustration" via cover artists (Norman Rockwell and his predecessor at The Saturday Evening Post, J. C. Leyendecker) and countless movie poster artists (Drew Struzan, Richard Amsel, Renato Casaro, David Grove) to most modern illustrators (see: Patrick J. Jones, "Drawing from photos"). Photography can be used to achive brilliant realism in art.
https://www.muddycolors.com/2019/03/20-artists-from-photo-to-final/

Digital tools caused a much more profound stir in the industry than photography or film. I've recently stumbled on the career of one Marshall Vandruff, who was basically hit by the emergence of photoshop mid career. He had made a name for himself with precise airbrushed cross sections of medical appliances. And that's exactly where he continued to find work when Photoshop hit. The skills he applied were the exact same; he just used different tools. But AI isn't a "tool".

The invention of photography didn't put illustrators out of a job.
The invention of film didn't put illustrators out of a job.
The invention of Photoshop didn't put illustrators out of a job.

The invention of AI is putting illustrators out of their jobs in fucking droves.
Post edited January 26, 2026 by Vainamoinen
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion5,000+ GOG patrons and an AI Banner(661 posts)(661 posts)
(661 posts)