Members of the Independent Game Festival (IGF) jury have issued an open letter to push back on the use of generative AI technology and urge event organisers GDC and Informa to adopt a strong anti-AI policy.
Jury member Austin Walker posted the letter on Bluesky and noted that judges and jurists have engaged in "intense, difficult, generous, and deeply engaged conversations about AI and the games industry" in recent weeks.
The letter states there has been a "significant increase" in the number of submitted games developed using generative AI tools. "This has set off some fairly intense discussion and disagreement across the judge and jury pools and at this point there is no universal consensus on what (if anything) is to be done," it adds.
Given those conversations have failed to deliver unanimity, some of those involved with selecting finalists and winners for the prestigious awards ceremony have chosen to speak out and will be refusing to vote for any title that features generative AI.
"The IGF has affirmed that we may cast our votes according to our own tastes and values. But we, a contingent of IGF jurors, feel that this trend and the games embracing it deserve stronger pushback than a vote in silence," reads the letter.
"While IGF leadership has approved the release of this statement, it's important to note that we do not speak for IGF as an organisation, or for all IGF jury members. Many jurors had differing perspectives and significant reservations about this statement. Some jurists additionally voiced concerns about their ability to safely sign without professional blowback, and we do not intend this letter to serve as a censure of those who were unable to sign.
"Above all: Our goal is to state solitary with those who despair over the future of their art, their craft, and their industry—including those who have experimented with these tools in the past, but who now believe they are not in our best interest."
The letter has been signed by 19 members of the IGF jury, all of whom believe that generative AI technology is actively harming the video game industry, its workforce, and world in which we reside.
The group has stressed those harms "do not depend on what is generated, be it music or writing, art of VO, marketing assets or code." They also, notably, push back against the notion that generative AI is an inevitability to be accepted (begrudgingly or otherwise).
"The use of these tools is not a foregone conclusion in our industry," the letter continues. "[...] We stand in solidarity not only with those developers who have the freedom to unilaterally reject them, but also with those who have been compelled by their employers to adopt their use, those working to establish or improve their workplace policies, and especially with those in positions of precarity who are so often those most pressured to abandon their values."
The 29th annual Independent Game Festival will take place at GDC Festival of Gaming in March 2027. Finalists are expected to be announced in January next year. Submissions are now closed.
Chris is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience covering the video game industry. He was formerly news editor at Game Developer and is currently the founder and editor of this resplendent website.
