Steam game drops after AI controversy

The Cancellation of Postal: Bullet Paradise

The game Postal: Bullet Paradise has been canceled just a day after its initial reveal, following intense backlash from fans who accused the title of using AI-generated art. Initially, the developer denied these claims, but the decision to cancel the Steam-exclusive project came from the publisher.

The Postal franchise is owned by Running with Scissors (RWS), a company based in Tucson, Arizona. Since the series began in 1997, RWS has developed all but two entries: Postal 3 (2011), co-developed with Trashmasters, and Postal: Brain Damaged (2022), created by Hyperstrange and CreativeForge Games. On December 3, RWS announced a third externally developed project, Postal: Bullet Paradise, described as a time-traveling shooter made by indie studio Goonswarm Games.

A Day of Controversy

A day later, RWS announced the cancellation of Postal: Bullet Paradise. The publisher cited the overwhelmingly negative reaction from the online community as the reason for its decision, acknowledging the widespread social media accusations that the project uses AI-generated art. "Our trust in the development team is broken, therefore we've killed the project," RWS said in a prepared statement, albeit without outright confirming fan suspicions over the origins of some of Postal: Bullet Paradise's assets.

A Provisional Apology

In a separate tweet, RWS issued a provisional apology to "anyone who felt insulted in the heat of the moment," except for people sending it death threats. Some fans criticized the phrasing, arguing that "heat of the moment" downplays instances in which company representatives allegedly insulted users on the RWS Discord server—and, in one case, used a slur—while responding to AI-related accusations in the 24 hours between Postal: Bullet Paradise being announced and getting canceled. "They still CAN be forgiven but whoever allowed the blatant insults needs to roll immediately," one vocal fan wrote on Twitter.

Denial and Then Admission

Goonswarm Games had initially denied the AI art accusations on December 5, yet simultaneously announced the decision to shut down its studio in response to them. A day later, the company issued another statement that included an apology for reacting "emotionally and defensively," saying this mistake was made because the initial wave of allegations came as a shock. However, after conducting an internal review, the studio had a change of heart, admitting that "the promo art does appear to include or be influenced by AI-generated material [sic]." Goonswarm insisted that the in-game assets were all made by "real artists," saying its internal review only identified issues with promotional visuals, albeit without elaborating.

Commitment to Change

The company's December 6 statement still saw it reiterate its intention to close the studio. However, it also included a surprising commitment to "replace all disputed promo art across our projects with pieces created entirely by human artists." This appears to be a reaction to social media users pointing out that some of Goonswarm's promo banners used for its other games show signs of being AI-generated, like having a sword-wielding character with a missing finger. In a statement to Polygon, Goonswarm said its closure would impact nine people in total, including both full-time developers and contractors.

Ongoing Plans for the Franchise

While Running with Scissors is no stranger to controversy, backlash against its Postal games has typically come from the general public rather than from its own fan base. The publisher said that although Postal: Bullet Paradise is not moving forward, many more plans for the franchise are currently in motion, with the first of the lot being set to be officially announced in 2026.