Summary

  • AI-generated bootleg game cases sold on eBay featuring sexualized female characters.
  • Sellers hawk fake game covers for PlayStation and Switch titles like Elden Ring and Zelda.
  • Voice actors unionize against AI, protesting use of their voices without consent.

AI has been a contentious issue in video games for a while now. While some developers are open to using the tools, like Sony with their AI version of Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy, others are against them, and the gaming audience has seemingly outright rejected AI in unison. Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Fragpunk, Guitar Hero, and Ark: Aquatica have all come under fire in recent months for their alleged use of generative AI in things like in-game artwork and trailers.

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But while many are unhappy with the way parts of the gaming landscape are heading, others are weirdly embracing it, with some using AI to create adult bootleg covers for games. These covers, which often feature scantily clad women, are, for some reason, being sold for more than the games themselves.

AI-Generated Bootleg Video Game Cases Have Hit Ebay

eBay is often used to highlight the grimy side of gaming. Scalpers use it to fleece their fellow gamers, and people frequently sell maxed-out characters in games that they've often used cheats to achieve. This takes things to a whole new level, though.

At least one eBay user is using the platform to sell (very blatantly) AI-generated game cases. The cases, which are primarily focused on PlayStation but do branch into the Nintendo Switch, feature versions of the games' female characters with enhanced boobs wearing very skimpy outfits.

The games listed include Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Stellar Blade, and Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, among others, with some even having their listings titled "Sexy Cover Art Replacement". Egrigiously, they also sell cases for games that haven't made their way to consoles, like a PS5 version of League of Legends.

These knock-off covers, a selection of which can be seen below, are being sold for around $18 (£14), which is more than you can pick up some of these games for. Assassin's Creed Odyssey can regularly be purchased for around £10, as can other games they have listed, like Resident Evil: Revelations. To each their own, though, I guess.

AI isn't just an issue among the majority of gamers. Voice actors from around the globe have also shared concerns about artificial intelligence, with those covered by SAG-AFTRA striking, seeking better protections against companies using their voices.

Elden Ring Like Follow Followed RPG Action Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 95/100 Critics Rec: 98% Released February 25, 2022 ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) From Software Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software 6 Images Close
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