Another day, another AI-generated “slop” accusation, this time against Blizzard and its upcoming Diablo Immortal x Hearthstone crossover event.
In a thread on Reddit, later picked up by PC Gamer, redditor Ipyreable believes they’ve spotted an image with telltales signs of generative AI. At the time of writing, over 4,400 people have upvoted the post.
Given Hearthstone’s fantasy leanings, it would be fair to presume a make-believe world embodies mystical things that don’t align with the real world we live in, but I don’t think there’s many people who’d be prepared to defend an ear with three conchas (yes, I did indeed have to look that word up. You’re welcome).
Appending an image with several questionable features, including a hand that fades into a wall, mirrored/reversed card art, and that strange ear, of course, the OP wrote: “Guess $158 pets aren’t enough to pay an artist to draw the image for their colab lmao”.
The $158 refers to Hearthstone’s first ever cosmetic pet, King Krush, which is locked behind a “gambling mechanism” which requires you to spend your real life money.
“Well, let’s keep calling them out for this shit. If they’re not going to pay artists, users are going to grumble. That’s just how it is as well,” said one player, to which another replied: “Less grumbling, and more ‘stop buying things with real money’. Can do both, but the latter is the only thing that gets brought up in yearly budget meetings with the money goblins.”
“The sad reality is that most users won’t notice or care much at all,” said someone else. “It’s better to focus on supporting companies and creators who make their own shit. Easier to get people excited for something new rather than try to diminish their attachment to something comfortable and familiar.”
Activision Blizzard has yet to comment publicly on the accusations and, at the time of writing, the artwork remains online.
At the start of the month, Microsoft announced around 9000 employees would be laid off, including roughly 200 staff from King. Now, in a new report, sources state King is reportedly replacing laid off staff with AI tools they helped to build.