Owlcat is using generative AI for The Expanse Osiris Reborn, but the final game will be "100% human made"

The Expanse is one of the best science fiction series I’ve ever read. The TV show was a strong interpretation of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck’s novels until the final, unfortunately rushed, series, too. So Owlcat’s forthcoming RPG has a high bar to clear. However, my confidence that it will pull off a stunning maneuver and create spacefaring magic with The Expanse: Osiris Reborn has been dealt a blow as a spokesperson admits that Owlcat is using generative AI in the development process.

Two years after coming under social media scrutiny for a job advert which listed “concept generation using AI” as a task for the new hire, Owlcat continues to flirt with the controversial technology in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.

“We don’t use [generative AI] to create any assets that will be in the game,” PR manager Katharina Popp told Eurogamer. “We use it a lot for prototyping, trying things out, placeholders. They will all be replaced at the end.

“We use it basically for trying out things on a technical level. For example, looking how a 2D image looks in 3D, or changing colours to what looks good. So it’s basically for being able to iterate faster. But we don’t use it to write, we don’t use AI voice actors, so everything that will be in the final version will definitely 100 percent be human made.”

Owlcat has clarified that it didn’t use gen AI at all in Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader or its Pathfinder games, but that doesn’t excuse this instance. If anything, it makes it more confusing.

While I’m glad no AI-generated images will appear in the final game, surely you want your concept art to be as creative as possible, rather than generic, an assimilation of the sci-fi artwork that’s been scanned by the LLM? That’s not to mention that using it during development is still environmentally destructive and a health hazard to many people across the world.

Players are also rebelling against the technology. Aside from the online vitriol that Owlcat previously received for the aforementioned job listing, players say they “don’t want to play” games that use generative AI.

With such an iconic sci-fi story on the line, which has had such impressive adaptations already, Owlcat can’t afford to mess this up. A Mass Effect-style game set in The Expanse universe sounds like an open goal, but the developer needs to make sure the ball doesn’t end up in its own net.