LocalThunk, the developer behind Breakout Roguelike Poker Game Balatro, intervened to resolve a bit of scrum on the Balatro Subreddit about mod statements about AI Art.
It’s a bit of a wild story, so bear with me here. And thanks to the garbage day and rock paper shotgun that has found all of this. Essentially, it starts with Drtankhead, the current moderator of Balatro Subreddit and the current mod of NSFW Balatro Subreddit.
Moderators did not express any issues with AI art content in both NSFW and the main Baratrosab Reddit. “We don’t ban AI art here. If it’s properly advocated and tagged, it’s tagged like that,” the MOD said in the post. “This was done after discussing with the PlayStack staff.”
LocalThunk posted a short reply to Bluesky. This said this is not how they even felt about the AI-generated images. The developer then went to subreddit and issued a full statement.
“PlayStack either doesn’t tolerate AI ‘Art’. I don’t use it in the game. I think it really hurts all kinds of artists. The action in this mod doesn’t reflect how you feel about PlayStack or how you feel about the topic. I’ve removed this moderator from the moderation team.”
“We will not be allowing AI-generated images with this SubredDit from now on. We will make sure our rules and FAQs reflect this immediately.”
In a follow-up, the PlayStack Communications Director stated that the rule was “more clearer” as a principle that requires “unsigned AI content” and was referred to as “may be interpreted as permitting or supporting Subreddit content.” The rest of the mod team plans to clarify this language for the future.
Regarding the original mod, I’ve confirmed that Drtankhead posted on the aforementioned NSFW Balatro Subreddit and was removed as a mod for R/Balatro. They went on to say that creating an NSFW Balatro subreddit AI-centric “is not their goal,” but are considering the “day of the week” situation where “non-NSFW art made with AI” can be posted.
In response, one user responded: “Drop Reddit for a week or two.”
Generic AI is one of the hottest topics in the video gaming and entertainment industry, and in recent years both have suffered from massive layoffs. So far, the mix of ethical and rights issues has attracted criticism from players and creators, and it has struggled to produce content that AI actually enjoys. For example, Keyword Studios tried to create an experimental game internally using AI. The game failedquoting the keywords from investors, saying that AI can’t replace talent.
However, it has not stopped tech companies from joining AI. EA said that in September AI was the “very core” of that businessand recently Capcom said it is experimenting with generator AI Create “hunds of thousands” ideas needed for the in-game environment. Activision recently admitted that it used the generated AI using Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 assets in a repulsion to the “AI Slop” Zombie Santa loading screen.
Eric is an Passthecontroller freelance writer.
