I strongly urge the team to reconsider cancelling the AI competition.
Using an X poll as the primary basis for a major PR or business decision is extremely risky. X is widely known for hosting a disproportionately vocal anti-AI audience, particularly within western online spaces. There is also no way to verify whether the people voting against the competition are actually members of your active player base, or people who genuinely care about the future of the game. In many cases, online outrage campaigns are driven by outside groups who are fundamentally opposed to AI content in any form, regardless of context.
Because of this, the poll results should not be interpreted as a reliable representation of your actual player base.
Cancelling the competition will not repair your reputation with those attacking the event. Communities that are ideologically opposed to AI-generated content are unlikely to suddenly support or forgive the company because of a cancellation. Instead, the outcome becomes a lose-lose scenario: traditional artists lose opportunities, AI artists lose opportunities, and the company damages trust with creators who genuinely wanted to participate in good faith.
Additionally, public polls on X are extremely vulnerable to brigading and artificial manipulation. Organized groups can easily influence results through mass sharing, coordinated voting, or botting. That makes them a very weak foundation for determining long-term creative direction or business strategy. You can even see this represented on your steam page through coordinated review bombing attacks to smear your brand even further.
At the end of the day, Recreate should make decisions based on its own vision, and its own goals. Not based on pressure from temporary online outrage. Trying to appease people who are fundamentally opposed to AI will not succeed, because their opposition is not about compromise; it is about complete rejection in all forms. They will not ever see it as a viable tool to help artists, for fear of being outcast from their own communities.
A better solution would be to move forward with the existing competition, while also creating additional spaces for non-AI creators to showcase their work in the future (if desired). That approach supports both traditional art and AI mediums, encourages creativity from multiple communities, and avoids punishing participants who genuinely wanted to enter this contest in good faith.
There is no meaningful way to gauge genuine interest in this competition without actually allowing it to happen and giving creators the opportunity to participate if they choose to do so. Online discourse driven by outrage, fear, and hostility will always drown out the voices of people with more moderate opinions. The loudest reactions are not necessarily representative of the broader community.
Regardless. At this point, the situation has already become highly publicized, and the internet rarely forgets controversies once they gain momentum. That is exactly why I urge you to be careful not to alienate every part of your community at once; traditional artists, AI creators, and regular players alike.
I hope the team seriously reconsiders before making a final decision. I have only ever had positive interactions with your development team, and I wanted to personally thank you for creating a game that has made my friends and I belly laugh more times than I can count.
I wish you the best of luck with however you decide to move forward.