Developer 11 Bit Studios has responded to player concerns that AI-generated text and translations were used in The Alters, pledging to issue an update replacing all such content with manually crafted assets.
Recently, players noticed what seemed to be AI-generated text within the game—specifically on a screen in the Command Center. The text included the phrase, "Sure, here's a revised version focusing purely on scientific and astronomical data:" before a Captain’s log entry, indicating possible AI involvement. This led to speculation that an initial AI prompt had been mistakenly left in the final build.
Did The Alters (captain) use a little bit of AI?
byu/EarthlingKira inTheAlters
In the English version, the issue was confined to that single instance. But players using other language versions highlighted translations containing sentences like, "Sure! Here is the translated text into Brazilian Portuguese," suggesting AI was used for localization in some parts. The Alters currently does not include a disclosure on its Steam page about AI-generated content—something Valve requires for all titles using such technology.
In an email to IGN and across its social media channels, 11 Bit Studios explained the situation. The developer confirmed that the Captain’s log text was a placeholder and was accidentally left in the final release, with no other AI-generated passages present. Regarding translations, the studio stated that AI was used only for a small number of late-added cutscenes needing urgent localization, and that it always planned to replace them with professionally translated versions.
The full statement from the studio reads:
We’ve seen a wide range of accusations regarding the use of AI-generated content in The Alters, and we feel it’s important to clarify our approach and give you more context. AI-generated assets were used strictly as temporary WIPs during the development process and in a very limited manner. Our team has always prioritized meaningful, handcrafted storytelling as one of the foundations of our game.
During production, an AI-generated text for a graphic asset, which was meant as a piece of background texture, was used by one of our graphical designers as a placeholder. This 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. We have since conducted a thorough review and confirmed that this was an isolated case, and the asset in question is being updated.
For transparency, we’ve included a screenshot to show how and where it appears in the game. While we do not want to downplay the situation, we also want to clearly show its limited impact on your gaming experience.
In addition to that, a few licensed movies that the alters can watch in the social area of the base were added at the final stage of development. While those were externally produced, our team was not involved in the creative process, and these required additional 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. It was always our intention to involve our trusted translation agencies after release as part of our localization hotfix, to ensure those texts would be handled with the same care and quality as the rest of the game. That process is now underway, and updated translations are being implemented.
To give you a better understanding of what a small part of the overall scope of the game’s narrative layer they are, those few external movies are approximately 10k words out of 3.4 million across all languages in the game, or just 0.3% of the overall text. 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.
As AI tools evolve, they present new challenges and opportunities in game development. We’re actively adapting our internal processes to meet this reality. But above all, we remain committed to transparency in how we make our games. We appreciate your understanding and continued support as we work towards that goal.
11 Bit Studios is the latest developer facing scrutiny over AI usage. Just last week, Frontier Developments reversed its decision to use AI-generated portraits in Jurassic World Evolution 3 following fan backlash. Similarly, Activision has been criticized for deploying AI in its marketing, including ads for a non-existent Guitar Hero game and assets in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Other titles, like Palworld, have also faced AI-related allegations but strongly denied them, providing evidence they did not use generative AI.
In our review, The Alters earned an 8/10, described as "a highly atmospheric sci-fi character study combined with straightforward but engaging resource and base management, building existential and interpersonal tension throughout the narrative."
