Last month, System 3 Software released a trailer for James Pond Legacy, a four-game collection for Nintendo Switch 2. But the gameplay footage was largely overshadowed by accusations its developer used generative AI to create the game's promotional artwork and cover. System 3 followed this trailer up with a blog post asserting that generative AI was not used in the development process for James Pond Legacy, but some wires were evidently crossed.
If you go back and watch that trailer, it's not difficult to see why viewers pointed out the AI-like quality of the 3D characters adorning the game's box art and other promotional material. When System 3 responded to the accusations with the assertion that "no generative AI was used in the creation of the artwork," referring specifically to the Bovine Bomber character, this was based on the information it was given at the time by Antstream, the studio that handled the collection's actual development.
"That was the statement that we were given at the time by Antstream," System 3 CEO Mark Cale told GameSpot during a call. "We weren't involved in the process. They supplied all of the artwork and they supplied, in the process, the [work-in-progress] illustration. All of that was given to us."
Cale later provided GameSpot with the statement it received back in December from Antstream, well before the trailer was made public.
"The art pipeline on some non-in-game assets includes algorithm-assisted depth and form translation: Original 2D concepts are input into a model to estimate volume and lighting, producing pseudo-3D drafts," reads the statement from Antstream. "Artists then manually repaint, re-render, and finalise all illustrations using this pipeline. The final assets are fully human-authored, with algorithms used only for intermediate visualisation."
You may notice that the statement omits the term "AI," which led to some internal confusion.
"We requested this [statement] for use across the board, including Steam, and to address applicable requirements under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, including the transparency provisions that took effect on August 2, 2026," Cale explained. "Antstream now argues that, because we requested the statement for these purposes, we must have known the extent of their use of AI. However, their statement expressly describes the final assets as 'fully human-authored,' with algorithms used 'only for intermediate visualisation.'"
Had the use of generative AI been made clearer prior to the publication of the trailer and the blog post, System 3 would have taken a different approach, Cale said.
"That doesn't say 'generative AI,'" Cale said. "And if they've used any generative AI at all, it should have been clear in that statement. That was the statement we were told to put on to Nintendo, to Steam, PS5, Xbox--any format we want to go based on that. The actual gameplay itself is, of course, all emulated anyway. And for me, I don't know the definition of how you're going to try to say something that's prompt-based [is] 'generative AI' versus algorithms. And so we honestly looked at that and took that honestly to [mean] there was no AI."
GameSpot was unable to reach Antstream for comment during our time investigating the situation.
Cale said he is far from wanting to throw Antstream under the bus for what happened. He explained the reason Antstream was contracted for the project was because it had done "a bloody good job" of emulating games for past compilations, such as The Last Ninja Collection. The situation for James Pond was a little different, though, with little in the way of existing concept art or other production designs to go on for the in-game supplemental materials.
As someone wary, to put it mildly, of any generative AI usage in video games, I told Cale I would have preferred hand-drawn material created specifically for the collection based on past artwork, but Cale said it wasn't feasible.
"All of the artwork that has been created within the Pond-verse has been based on art that's either on the box cover or characters that are in the game," he said. "And at the end of the day, if people think we're going to redraw, re-render to that quality, and have 20 or 30 people working two years on it, forget it: It's not going to happen. We wouldn't put the Pond-verse in there. The simple fact is, it would not match an investment versus a return. I'm only speaking for myself--I can't speak for Antstream--but if it was for me, I wouldn't do it, because I couldn't justify having 20 artists for a year create all of that in that way."
Still, Cale said that full disclosure--and a clearer set of guidelines for what System 3 considers generative AI--should help to avoid another situation like this happening in the future. Having a set, and perhaps broader, definition for what constitutes generative AI will, at the very least, help prospective buyers know what they're purchasing.
It won't completely solve the problem, though, as Cale mentioned the need to be careful about using the term "AI" to describe any element in a game--even some that have existed for decades.
"AI's become such a swear word, and you should quote me on that!" Cale said. "So, you know, we're doing this other game. It's all been hand-done and everything, and I can't even say, 'Opponent AI's been tweaked to do this.' No, it's 'opponent behavior.' It's just madness! I just don't want to use the word 'AI' in anything, as far as I'm concerned, anymore."
James Pond Legacy: The Pond is Not Enough doesn't have a final release date yet, but will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 at the end of October.
