AI Watermark Found in Fortnite Art
Fortnite has quietly replaced a piece of in-game artwork after fans spotted its original version contained a Google Gemini AI watermark.
Epic Games added the music track Meow by Ironmouse, Sleeping Forest & HalaCG to Fortnite last month, with the telltale Gemini watermark in the track artwork's bottom right corner. This lay mostly unnoticed until last weekend, when its wider discovery prompted a minor reaction on social media and Reddit.
Origin of the AI Artwork
As of this morning, however, this artwork has been replaced with an alternate version with no Gemini watermark. Upon closer inspection, the Gemini usage was present in the track list's original art that was incorporated in-game. Checking the track on Spotify shows the Gemini mark there as well, indicating the AI generation stemmed from the track art's initial creator rather than Epic Games.
Community Concerns Over AI in Gaming
AI-generated artwork in Fortnite remains a contentious subject for fans. Previous examples, such as an in-game poster featuring a nine-toed character in a hammock, previously led players to criticize the reliance on AI rather than human designers. A developer video subsequently showcased how Epic Games experiments with AI in the conceptual phase for characters and locations.
Epic Games has typically avoided strictly confirming whether particular in-game assets are AI-generated, while maintaining quality standards for the battle royale title. While other major titles have faced glaring AI asset controversies, Epic has generally steered clear of the most overt errors.
The decision by Epic Games to swap out the artwork indicates a desire to avoid openly displaying assets featuring obvious generative AI markers like a Gemini watermark within Fortnite.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Disney stated that its rumored desire to buy Epic Games was not something it was planning to act on — at least right now.
