Anno 117: Pax Romana Used AI a Little Wrong
Anno 117: Pax Romana, the latest installment in Ubisoft’s historical strategy series, is making headlines not for its gameplay mechanics, but for its flaws in the use of AI. Players noticed AI-induced distortions and disproportionate effects in the loading screens. The distorted face of characters, particularly in an illustration depicting a Roman palace, became a source of ridicule on social media.
Ubisoft Announces Error as “Temporary Substitutes”
Following the backlash, Ubisoft Mainz released an official statement. The company announced that the criticized images were “temporary substitutes” and had “mistakenly” passed the review process. The statement read, “These images will be replaced with patch 1.3. AI tools were used in the game solely for prototyping, idea generation, and acceleration. The final content is entirely created by our art team.”
However, this clarification didn’t completely alleviate player outrage. Examples shared on Reddit and X (Twitter) highlighted that traces of AI were clearly visible on several loading screens. Classic AI production errors are particularly noticeable in details like eyes, hands, and faces. Players continued their criticism, saying, “We didn’t expect such poor quality from a 200-person AAA studio.”
Ironically, some of the game’s concept art was created by Character Design Studio—a team previously worked on major projects like Horizon Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, and Shadow of War. Therefore, how and why the AI-influenced visuals were mixed in remains unclear.
On its Steam page, Ubisoft added the statement, “AI tools were used in the creation of some in-game assets.” However, the omission of this information on the Ubisoft Connect platform has sparked a new debate. It appears that players are now paying close attention not only to gameplay but also to how games are produced—especially in projects labeled “AI-supported.”
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