Creative Assembly has issued a statement regarding the use of generative AI in Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition, which led to the game’s removal from sale last week.
Total War vice president Roger Collum clarified that Shogun 2 – Complete Edition “was not a Creative Assembly developed game,” and that it “wasn’t subject to our same internal reviews and quality assurance.”
“We took our eyes off its external development, with all our teams focused on our next big projects,” he wrote on the Total War subreddit. “However, whatever the development arrangements, Total War is our franchise and our name is on it.”
“We’ve pulled a small team of senior developers together to work with Sega and the external developer on the next steps.”
As noted by Rock Paper Shotgun, Collum does not name the external developer involved with Shogun 2 – Complete Edition. However, Warsaw-based Mataboo Games is listed as a co-developer on the game’s Steam page.
Mataboo Games provides “complete end-to-end development support,” including design, content creation, gameplay, programming, bug fixing, implementation, porting, and optimisation.
The studio has contributed to several games, including The Blood of the Dawnwalker, Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad, Blair Witch, Stalker: Legends of the Zone trilogy, and Tchia.
In his post, Collum clarified Creative Assembly’s stance on generative AI. “We are a craft studio. Our games are made by incredibly talented people, and we do not believe in a world where technology replaces the creativity of humans.”
“We do not use generative AI to create game assets, including AI-generated art. We demand the same f any external developers we work with. The situation with Shogun 2 – CE is being investigated.”
Collum added: “We use AI tools where they help our craftspeople do their best work, as part of a continual evolution of how we use tools and technology in an evolving and competitive space. For me, the principle is pretty simple: AI can support the creator. It shouldn’t replace the creator. I don’t believe that AI can replace the human experience, judgement, and creativity that awesome experiences come from. Can AI tools help with analysis, debugging, or speedy prototyping so our experts can focus on making incredible games? Absolutely.”
Collum concluded by asking players not to direct their anger or frustration toward individual developers at Creative Assembly.
“When the team does well, it’s all about them. When we get it wrong, it’s on me. You absolutely have the right to be mad, and to criticise us, but direct it at me. We know we must earn your trust by making good games, and crucially, by how we respond when we get things wrong. We’re human, and we will get things wrong, and I promise as long as I’m here, when that happens, we’ll hold our hands up and try to make it right.”
As previously reported, Shogun 2 – Complete Edition was removed from sale last week amid concerns about the use of generative AI and other performance issues.
Sega and Creative Assembly issued a joint statement, saying the game had “fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards.”
“We are working closely with our development partner to identify the cause of these problems, deliver improvements, and ensure Shogun 2 – Complete Edition meets the quality standards players expect from Total War.”