"This shouldn’t have happened": GOG reportedly claim sale banner made with "Al tools" ended up on store by mistake

After being accused last week of using AI-generated artwork to promote their store’s new year sale, retro game sellers GOG have reportedly addressed the issue in a private Discord server for paying supporters. According to this fresh response from a GOG staffer, the banner was made “with the help of Al tools” and was “mistakenly allowed” to be pushed live on the storefront.

Kotaku report having been sent a screenshot of this response posted in a message to GOG’s official Patron Discord server by an employee with the handle Arthur Slay. Beginning with Slay making clear that they’re addressing the New Year Sale banner, their message as shared by Kotaku continues as follows:

First of all, regarding the quality of the asset: This banner was a work-in-progress asset that we mistakenly allowed to be displayed on the storefront. This shouldn’t have happened. We failed on at least two levels: Quality-control of the asset that landed on the front page, and then reacting quickly enough when we noticed the error. Second, I want to confirm that this WIP asset was indeed made with the help of Al tools. We hear your disappointment with the use of this technology, and see that it’s a sensitive topic for many of you.

Slay then reportedly went on to discuss GOG’s general approach to the use of AI, emphasising that the game sellers “don’t have the infinite resources of the industry giants” and that they “experiment with tools that can allow us to do more with the limited hands we have” as part of their preservation efforts. “We’ve been testing different technologies since our beginnings,” the staffer added. “Some experiments are successful, and some (like this banner) are not. Exploring various tech gives us the reach of a much larger team, so we never have to settle for doing less.”

Approached for comment on the sale banner last week, GOG told RPS they were unable to “comment publicly on our internal processes or tools”. I’ve reached out to the company for a second time in light of this Discord message.

The Polish storefront – noted for revamping and selling a bunch of classic games – changed ownership in late 2025, with Witcher developers CD Projekt opting to sell to original GOG co-founder Michał Kiciński in a deal worth about £18.6 million. So far, Kiciński’s suggested the plan for the store going forwards is to remain focused on preservation and DRM-less games.