Under pressure, Big Walk studio reveals it used generative AI "sparingly" while making its hit 2026 game

House House, the Australian developer behind the critically acclaimed indie multiplayer puzzle game Big Walk, has revealed that they used generative AI sparingly during the game's creation. In a statement following a controversy at the Independent Games Festival, the studio explained that large language models were primarily employed to assist with debugging the game's code during the final stages of development.

House House asserts that LLMs were utilized to help overcome technical challenges and resolve bugs, with only a fraction of 0.1 percent of the game's code potentially being influenced by AI. The developer emphasizes that generative AI was not employed in any other aspect of Big Walk's creation. This disclosure follows the majority of IGF jurors, comprising 19 individuals, who collectively decided to abstain from voting for any game that utilized generative AI during its development, citing a surge in such submissions and the ensuing debate among judges and jurors.

House House had not disclosed the AI usage for Big Walk prior to this IGF submission, and the studio chose to share the information as it deemed the matter of public interest. The developer acknowledges their concerns regarding the potential normalization or normalization of AI tool usage and supports efforts to mitigate the negative impact of generative AI on video games and society.

House House regretfully apologizes for the AI usage in Big Walk not meeting the standards of those advocating for its limited use. The revelation may cast a somewhat negative shadow on one of the year's most celebrated games, which Eurogamer awarded a perfect five-star rating.