1666: Amsterdam developer Panache caught using AI assets, issues apology

Panache Digital Games, the studio behind high-profile action-adventure 1666: Amsterdam, has issued a public apology after players spotted AI-generated assets in the game's prologue, which dropped on Steam shortly after the title's big reveal at Summer Game Fest. The studio has promised a replacement update with human-made art coming soon.

Panache confirmed on X that some early-version assets — including in-game portraits and external marketing material — made it into the released prologue. The studio says its team of over a dozen artists is actively reviewing everything flagged by players. Human-made replacements will arrive in an upcoming update, and Panache has pledged that neither the Early Access release nor the full game will contain any AI-generated assets.

The apology itself is a masterclass in passive-voice deflection — Panache describes the AI assets as things that "made their way into" the prologue, as if they wandered in uninvited rather than being placed there by someone on the team. It's a pattern that keeps repeating across the industry: studios quietly ship AI art, get caught, then issue a mea culpa framed as an oversight rather than a deliberate choice.

The gaming community's reaction was swift and loud, which is exactly why the backtrack happened at all. Players have proven repeatedly that they can spot AI-generated art and force studios to act — and that public pressure remains one of the few effective checks on the practice.