Catly

Catly
Developer(s)SuperAuthenti
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)
Genre(s)Platform, adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Catly (stylized as Cátly) is a platform game developed by SuperAuthenti, set to release for Steam, Nintendo Switch and Apple Watch. Following its announcement on The Game Awards 2024 in December, Catly was subject of criticism over allegations of generative artificial intelligence use for the first trailer and blockchain technologies for the game.

Gameplay

Catly is an open world platformer and adventure game with single-player and multiplayer options. In Catly, players can customize a cat avatar to take care of it and explore environments.[1] Gameplay also includes farming simulator and island building elements.[2]

Development

Catly is developed by studio SuperAuthenti and was made in Unreal Engine 5.[3] The game was unveiled with a teaser trailer on December 12, 2024 during The Game Awards 2024 presentations. SuperAuthenti announced the release for PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch and Apple Watch.[1] A trailer showcasing gameplay was launched on Catly's Steam page on December 19.[2]

Allegations of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology use

Following the game's announcement, assertions that the game or the trailer were created through the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology started to circulate.[1][3] The trailer's hyperrealistic style and similarities of details in promotional material to AI art artifacts,[3] as well as the removal of images from the game's website, were cited for suspicions of its use.[3][4] An aspect commented upon was the vagueness in the game's Steam description, which read "A Cat Open World, with Beautiful Cats. Hyperrealism, Actions, Cuddle, Speed, Islands, Fashion, Dreams, Snow, Robots, Plants -- all with and via Cats."[3][5] The description was since changed.[5]

SuperAuthenti stated that they did not use generative AI technology for the trailer or game, and that they believed AI tools at the time could not produce a trailer "like that."[3][4][6] IGN and Game Developer were shown in-progress material for the game's trailer; both outlets appeared to confirm a lack of generative AI use for the trailer.[4] Online personalities Pokimane, Ninja and Felicia Day promoted the game on Twitter; Pokimane retracted her tweet upon discovery of the allegations.[5]

Rumors alleging Catly's use of blockchain technologies surfaced upon investigations of previous activities by SuperAuthenti co-founder Kevin Yeung. Yeung had reportedly worked on two blockchain-based games under the studio TenthPlanet, as stated in a 2022 VentureBeat article, before co-founding SuperAuthenti.[4][5][7] Another point that was emphasized was that Catly's Steam listing featured a testimonial quote from League of Legends and Arcane producer Thomas Vu, a Web3 investor.[3][7] The SuperAuthenti team said they would not involve blockchain technologies or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the game.[4][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Colantonio, Giovanni (December 12, 2024). "Catly promises a photorealistic cat game, but its tech is a mystery". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Nightingale, Ed (December 19, 2024). "Catly developer shares proper gameplay trailer following AI allegations". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Valentine, Rebekah (December 16, 2024). "Catly creator says game has no generative AI, no blockchain, and no NFTs". IGN. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Nightingale, Ed (December 17, 2024). "Catly developer denies using generative AI or blockchain technology in its open-world cat game". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Chalk, Andy (December 18, 2024). "The weird cat game announced at The Game Awards is not made with AI, developers say, and has 'zero blockchain technology' or NFTs". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Blake, Vikki (December 17, 2024). "Catly dev "surprised" at AI speculation - "we don't think there are AI tools that could produce that"". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Francis, Bryant (December 16, 2024). "Catly developer denies it's using generative AI or blockchain technology in its cute cat game". Game Developer. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.