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<\/p>\nRobin Ward was recovering from a broken arm when he fell in love with The Roottrees are Dead, a free browser game hosted on itch.io, an indie games salesfront. He reached out to its creator, Jeremy Johnston, and told him, \u201cThis should be a bigger deal than it is.\u201d At the same time, Ward says, he \u201cknew why\u201d it couldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n
The browser version of The Roottrees are Dead used AI-generated art for its images, a central part of the puzzle game that tasks players with investigating dozens of people and filling out its complex family tree. At the time, Steam, the biggest platform for PC games, did not allow the use of generative AI in games released using the storefront. In addition, Ward and Johnston agreed that they felt it was \u201cunethical to sell artwork created in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnston had originally released the game for free, despite spending 11 months building it up from what was originally a Global Game Jam project cobbled together in less than a week in 2023. In the jam\u2019s tight time constraints, and in a time before generative AI was quite so well known, he reached out to a friend who was \u201csuper into\u201d using Midjourney and asked if he\u2019d be willing to generate images based on prompts he had come up with for his puzzles.<\/p>\n
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Left: the original AI-generated artwork with a photographic style. Right: the illustrated replacement.<\/p>\n
The images were far from perfect. Both Johnston and Ward point out a warped, staring image of a young girl in the original version of the game (which is still available for free<\/a>) \u2014 Ward calls it \u201cdemonic.\u201d Other portraits have the twisted hands that were a telltale giveaway of generative AI at the time.<\/p>\n But despite expanding the game for almost a year, adding to the story and puzzle aspects, Johnston says he \u201cnever really thought\u201d to replace the art. Not being an artist himself, he was focused on the photographic quality of the existing artwork, and he knew he would never be able to afford to hire models and a cameraperson to recreate it.<\/p>\n And although he was putting a lot of work into the expanded version, he wasn\u2019t expecting the reaction it would eventually get. \u201cI\u2019ve released other things \u2014 not games, necessarily, but things that I spent a lot of time and energy on, and then they came out and no one cared,\u201d he says. So although he spent a lot of time on Roottrees, he did not want to invest money he was never expecting to get back.<\/p>\n Left: a particularly cursed AI-generated child. Right: the vastly improved illustrated replacement.<\/p>\n When he did release the itch.io version of Roottrees, though, it was surprisingly popular. It spread on forums and Reddit, and it received some attention in the games press. He did not charge for it, on account of the AI artwork, although he did include a donation link and says he made around $2,000-$3,000 from more than 10,000 players.<\/p>\n And one of those players was Ward. After reaching out to Johnston, they agreed that Ward would reprogram the game and hire an illustrator to replace the AI artwork and get it ready for a Steam release. The illustrator he brought on, Henning Ludvigsen, says he used the AI art as a kind of concept sketch. Ludvigsen then did his own research into the era and style the picture was supposed to evoke, eventually making almost 40 illustrations across nearly a year of work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a big fan of generative AI,\u201d he says, saying his peers in the illustration industry have seen a reduction in work, particularly concept artists. \u201c[Companies] kind of skip that step now [using AI], which I think is not great.\u201d<\/p>\n Left: a composite AI illustration of the Roottrees. Right: Ludvigsen could create more consistent characters who actually look like they\u2019re in the same world.<\/p>\n When it comes to finished products, though, he still sees generative AI as \u201cnot doing that well in general\u201d among players. Large video game companies like Take Two Interactive have noted that players tend to not only avoid games that use AI but also react negatively to them online and in ratings, calling it<\/a> a potential avenue for \u201closs of players, revenues\u2026and reputation harm.\u201d Johnston mentions the case of Cyan Worlds, the developer behind Myst, receiving backlash<\/a> for using \u201cAI assisted content\u201d like texture assets in its latest game.<\/p>\n The Roottrees are Dead seemed to skirt these issues by being transparent about its use upfront, as well as releasing for free, Johnston says. Ward also points out that \u201cin this case, it\u2019s the case of \u2018there would be no game\u2019 versus \u2018there is a game.\u2019\u201d Johnston agrees that without the use of AI-generated artwork, the initial version would never have been released, meaning the eventual full version with Ludvigsen\u2019s work in it would also never have existed. Ludvigsen himself says he \u201creally enjoyed\u201d replacing the illustrations, given he\u2019s \u201cnot a big fan of\u201d AI art generation in general. <\/p>\n \u201cI think some people would say, \u2018Well, I would prefer that there is no game in this case,\u2019 and I think they\u2019re entitled to their opinion,\u201d Ward says, citing the environmental concerns<\/a> and the scrapping of artists\u2019 work for training corpuses as potential arguments for that approach. \u201cBut I ended up playing something that I really loved,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n Left: the AI-generated original. Right: the illustrated version more clearly reflects the setting of the photograph.<\/p>\n The game was released on Steam in January 2025. \u201cThe vast majority of people are like, \u2018I\u2019m very happy you got rid of the AI,\u2019\u201d Ward says. Although some have said they prefer the more photographic quality of the generated art, Ludvigsen\u2019s work is undeniably an upgrade, from the untwisted fingers to the increased consistency in design for characters who appear in multiple photographs, which makes some puzzles more understandable.<\/p>\n The Roottrees are Dead is now a critical and commercial success, which would not have happened without both generative AI and a human artist. Both Ward and Johnston note that the game took an unusual route to its current state. But with the increasing prevalence of AI tools, it\u2019s possible more games will end up on the same path.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/November-Old.png\"\/)
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