House House provides clarification on the utilization of AI tools during the "final stage of development" for Big Walk
In response to a recent discourse about using AI in game development, House House, an Australian indie game developer, released a statement regarding the use of AI tools in their game Big Walk. In this statement, they noted the use of AI occurred "sparingly" to tackle "difficult technical challenges and bugs" during the final production stages.
The statement emerged after a group of 2027 Independent Games Festival (IGF) jurors expressed their decision not to support any game involving generative AI. Big Walk is among the games submitted to this festival, with the submission period having ended on September 13. The festival's finalists are to be revealed in January 2027. A post by the IGF jurors highlighted their observation of an "increase in the number of games utilizing generative AI tools" entered into the competition.
In an elaborate clarification, House House outlined their AI usage, including deployment of large language models (LLMs) to resolve issues with third-party code. They quantified this usage as forming less than 0.1% of Big Walk's code, clarifying the AI was not employed in other facets of the development.
The developers detailed a technical challenge where shadow casters were affecting game performance, hindering optimal play during sunrise and sunset. Their search for solutions led them to consulting with a Unity engineer, who found no feasible solution. Eventually, they consulted an LLM chatbot, which, after multiple attempts, provided a suggestion that was significantly altered for effectiveness, resulting in a 10-line code fix for the Unity URP.
The studio chose not to reveal this information on Steam, citing the platform's policies that do not necessitate such disclosures. However, they released this clarification publicly due to increasing public interest in AI's role in game development.
House House emphasized their statement should not be seen as support for AI tools but acknowledged concerns about their potential normalization in the industry. They support efforts to limit possible adverse effects of generative AI on gaming and society, apologizing if their use of LLMs in Big Walk falls short of some standards.
The absence of an internal policy on AI usage during Big Walk's development was recognized by House House as a shortcoming, with the team committed to establishing a more robust policy in the future.