Please reconsider your relationship with Symbiote Studios#404

Edit: I think Re-evaluate may have been a better word for the title.

Earlier today (Saturday) during PAX they put out a tweet with an AI image of their mascot looking for Dan (and didn’t even bother to spellcheck his name).

The replies were flooded with people criticising them for it, and later on in the day they deleted the whole tweet. A second tweet was made and everyone in the replies reminded them of what happened with the previous now deleted tweet, then they locked further interaction with the post.

As of now there’s been no acknowledgement about the incident from their side. I’ve personally purchased Rivals plushies from them before but if they continue to use AI I will have no interest in buying from them again, and I don’t doubt a majority of Rivals fans feel the same way

The further this game stays away from AI, the better

Edited for reasonableness:

We’ve gotta do our part to make sure using gen AI is a financially devastating decision for a company. But at the same time, we also have to make sure it wasn’t some unpaid intern or social media manager with no oversight who did it without the company heads knowing or approving.

I’d definitely encourage a talk between Aether and Symbiote to know what really happened, and if they’re remorseless or act weaselly about it, that’s when to break ties.

EDIT 2: They were remorseless AND are acting weaselly about it

There are also a ton of posts by Symbiote Studios’ ceo defending this and generally singing praises of AI art which is really rough to read. I love Rivals plushies sooo much and am looking forward to collecting every Rivals 2 plush but idk if Symbiote Studios is the way to do it. Any chance Rivals could get with Fangamer or something?

@JayMission Yeah I was informed of this later on. I’m not gonna retract my message, but it does look like Symbiote are already far along the path of Definitely Cut Ties With Them.

Another update with their most recent (now edited) tweet. They have blocked several accounts calling them out for the last post, and have doubled down with this snarky response.

Don’t let generative AI anywhere near Rivals of Aether. It’s the theft engine for abusive people.

b r u h
this game is full of snowflakes i stg