Fangamer’s videogame tie-ins have drawn our attention multiple times in the past, from the Stardew Valley boxed edition complete with farm-ownership deed, to the angry psychic squid from Into the Breach in huggable plushie form. They recently released a fancy vinyl edition of the soundtrack to Myst sequel Riven, but this time the response has been divided.
As noticed by multiple commenters in a thread on the Myst subreddit (via Time Extension) the gatefold art by composer Robyn Miller, depicting the mysterious Age 234, has the look of generative AI. Miller replied to confirm he’d used AI tools in the art, but defended his use of them to finalize art he says began with old-fashioned pencil sketches of the concept:
Fangamer responded to Time Extension’s initial reporting with this statement: “Our internal policy prohibits art created by generative AI in our products, but it’s one we hadn’t directly addressed with all of our outside artists, especially on products like this one, where development began well before the widespread use of image generation. In this case our role in the soundtrack was limited to layout and production, so we weren’t aware of which tools were used to create the gatefold illustration; anyone who has ordered the soundtrack and is unhappy with the product is welcome to contact our customer service and request a cancellation or return, which we’ll process no-questions-asked. We’ve begun updating our artist and partnership agreements to reflect our AI use policy, so that moving forward we can proactively address it with everyone we work with.”