Entertainment · Gaming · 57 mins ago
House House says Big Walk used generative AI sparingly
Australian studio House House used an AI chatbot during Big Walk’s final development stage to help solve technical problems and bugs.
The studio estimates that well under 0.1% of the game’s code involved this use, and says it used generative AI in no other part of development.
One chatbot suggestion helped fix a problem that slowed the game by about 50% for roughly 20 seconds at sunrise and sunset.
Some jurors for the 2027 Independent Games Festival said they will not vote for any game made with generative AI, and urged the festival to adopt a ban on AI-generated work.
Big Walk was submitted to the festival, where finalists are due to be announced in January 2027.
House House says it did not disclose the chatbot use on Steam because the platform does not ask developers to report code or chatbot use.
The studio called its lack of an internal AI policy a failure and says it will create a more comprehensive policy.
House House said it used generative AI sparingly during the final stretch of developing Big Walk to help address technical challenges and bugs.
The Australian studio estimated that well under 0.1% of the game’s code involved this use, and said generative AI was not used in any other context.
The disclosure followed a statement by Independent Games Festival jurors that they would not vote for games made using generative AI.
House House said it had not disclosed the use on Steam because the platform does not ask about code or chatbot use.
The studio said it had no internal AI usage policy during development and considered that a failure.
- Who
- Australian game developer House House, and jurors for the Independent Games Festival.
- What
- House House disclosed limited use of generative AI in developing Big Walk. Some IGF jurors said they would not vote for games that used generative AI.
- When
- During the final stretch of Big Walk’s development; the disclosure was reported on November 10, 2026.
- Where
- Big Walk, a game developed by House House. The studio disclosed the use in a statement to Aftermath.
- Why
- The tools helped the studio address technical challenges and bugs. House House said it disclosed the use because it had become a matter of public interest.
House House
Independent Games Festival jurors who signed the statement
Use of generative AI
House House
House House said it used LLMs sparingly to work through technical challenges and bugs, with well under 0.1% of the game’s code involving that use.
Independent Games Festival jurors who signed the statement
The jurors said they would not vote for any game that uses generative AI in any capacity.
Disclosure and policy
House House
House House said it had no internal AI usage policy during development, called that a failure, and would work on a more comprehensive policy.
Independent Games Festival jurors who signed the statement
The jurors urged the IGF to adopt a strong anti-AI policy for future years that disallows games containing AI-generated work.
House House used LLMs to help address technical challenges and bugs while making Big Walk.
Submissions for the 2027 Independent Games Festival closed.
A group of IGF jurors said they would not vote for games that used generative AI.
House House’s disclosure was reported by the outlets.
- Studio
- House House, an Australian developer
- Game
- Big Walk
- Estimated code involvement
- Well under 0.1%
- Specific fix
- About 10 lines of code inside Unity URP
- IGF edition
- 2027
- IGF submissions closed
- September 13
5 sources
House House Confirms ‘Under 0.1 Percent Of Big Walk’s Code’ Was Written Using AI Following IGF Controversy
Under pressure, Big Walk studio reveals it used generative AI "sparingly" while making its hit 2026 game
Big Walk developer House House reveal genAI use in final stretch of development, only revealing it now as "it has become a matter of public interest"
House House clarifies use of AI tools in Big Walk's "final stage of development"
Big Walk Devs Issue Statement Over AI Usage
What people are saying
This is not an endorsement of, or argument for, the use of AI tools, however minimal.
Big Walk was developed without an internal AI usage policy in place, and we consider that lack of policy a failure.
In the final stretch of Big Walk's development, LLMs were used sparingly by House House to help work through difficult technical challenges and bugs.
This year we are declining to vote for any game that uses generative AI in any capacity.