While the gaming community has by now come to expect mobile game ads to represent the peak of misinformation, such instances are comparatively rare in the PC and console gaming world, even more so among AAA studios. Still, even they aren’t immune to the same issues plaguing mobile game commercials, with a Korean gaming powerhouse, Nexon, recently finding itself at the center of a debacle caused by one of the adverts they ran to promote The First Descendant.
Over the weekend, the community spotted multiple TikTok ads for The First Descendant that used “influencers” generated and voiced entirely by AI to promote the game, with Reddit user iHardlyTriHard compiling some of these ads into a single collection embedded above.
While the use of AI-generated faces was disturbing and repulsive in and of itself, what attracted the community’s attention was, in fact, the only real human being seen in these ads, who turned out to be an actual streamer going by the name of DanieltheDemon. When Daniel saw the commercial featuring him, he stated that he has no connection to the game and did not consent to his likeness being used, explaining that those behind the ad “stole my face/reactions from my most viral video and used AI to change what my mouth says and a voice that isn’t mine.”
For comparison, here’s what Daniel’s actual voice sounds like:
A couple of days after the ads became the center of discussion in the TFD community, Nexon published an official notice shifting the blame to TikTok’s system for checking copyright violations.
According to the studio, the ads were submitted to them as part of the Creative Challenge program they ran on TikTok, which allowed creators to voluntarily provide content for promotional use. All submitted videos were reportedly verified by TikTok’s system for copyright issues before being approved as advertising content, however, it appears that no double-checking was going on at Nexon, allowing inappropriate material – ranging from AI slop to potential lawsuits – to slip through.
Because of that, the studio is now conducting a joint investigation with TikTok to “determine the facts”. It is worth noting that the statement does not mention removing the ads, nor does it apologize to DanieltheDemon or even mention him by name, with Nexon only apologizing for the delay in their response and promising to “share an update through an official notice once the verification is complete.”
While some have found Nexon’s explanation reassuring, others noted that one of the ads had been reposted by The First Descendant’s official TikTok account before being quickly deleted. This suggests either that Nexon considered only the use of DanieltheDemon’s video “inappropriate” and has no plans to address the AI ads – once again raising the question of why the streamer wasn’t mentioned in the statement – or that they didn’t view AI-generated ads as problematic and only aim to act to quell the community’s outrage. I, for one, can’t decide which is worse.
