Major gaming storefronts must do more to fight off 'AI slop' following Titanic Escape Simulator

OPINION: 'AI slop' is a huge problem across the internet and gaming is not immune to it - but major digital storefronts need to do their bit to stop so much crap from being available for purchase.

It's not good for gamers and it's not a good look for brand images.

For those that don't know, 'AI slop' is a term that refers to low quality media that's made using generative artificial intelligence. It's cheap and easy to make.

And as it turns out, easy to sell too.

On the whole, gamers are usually quite good at spotting this. But some do struggle with it and as AI continues to advance, it will get increasingly more difficult to detect.

On the latter point, there is one such example that springs to mind.

Titanic Escape Simulator went viral a few months back and that appears to be marketed entirely from AI generated content.

There are key details that give it away when inspecting more closely, such as the boat's name showing gibberish instead of saying Titanic, people's proportions and movements being completely off and light fixtures appearing mounted to walls through what seem to be paintings.

And on top of all that, there are many inaccuracies with the depiction of the Titanic itself. (On a site note, on the game's website there is a video showing 'gameplay experience' - but the corresponding video plays a content creator streaming a different game altogether from two years ago!)

But it still went viral.

Perhaps more for depicting a real-life tragic event in a game - but it seems a big point was missed: is it even a game if it seems to have been made using generative AI? (As well as further questions about an entirely different game being used to market it...)

The problem is, this wasn't even questioned to start with. Why should it when it was up on the trusted PS Store? It's still up on there now.

And that's a huge problem.

It's something that continues to plague major trusted digital storefronts. PS Store is not on its own here.

A screenshot of what appears to be generative AI of Titanic used in Titanic Escape Simulator / AI

The Nintendo eShop is perhaps the worst offender across consoles for this. It seems to have the highest proportion of 'AI slop' out of the console storefronts and is by far the most easy to stumble across.

Xbox's is better but it's not perfect - there are still some cases of 'AI slop' to be found there too.

And then moving onto PC, looking at Steam specifically, back in July it was reported one in every five games available on the platform used generative AI of some description.

That can range from entire games to individual assets but that's a scarily significant amount.

Mobile platforms, such as Apple App Store and Google Play, have been plagued with issues with generative AI content for years too.

Full games being made using generative AI and sold happens because of low entry barriers for games to be submitted and sold, which on the one hand allows indie creators to submit genuine content and to sell it through huge platforms - but at the moment every store seems to go too far in allowing content that's made solely using generative AI.

There are a few things to note having said that - I get that indie developers need supporting as much as possible in some cases in order to get their genuinely developed games onto major platforms to sell, which is why some of the requirements may be a little looser. I completely get that.

But surely there's a middle ground to be found here that's helping out indie developers while stopping people being able to make a quick buck by selling 'AI slop' on these huge platforms?

I'm not against AI in games in the slightest either - using AI as a tool in game development is nothing new and it's something that's been used for decades.

It's understood to be extremely helpful in certain situations where it's used to compliment development and not be totally relied on.

But generative AI just diminishes any quality or personality and, for all concerned, allowing people to make money by generating 'games' made entirely using AI with little budget just needs stopping.

The big players mentioned have said they're planning to crack down on it but it needs to happen now.

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