POSTAL: Bullet Paradise Developer Shut Down Following Allegations of Using Generative AI - News
by
William D'Angelo
, posted on 08 December 2025
/ 1,556 ViewsJust last week publisher Running With Scissors and developer Goonswarm Games announced cooperative bullet-heaven shooter, POSTAL: Bullet Paradise, for PC via Steam. However, the studio has now been shut down following allegations of generative AI use.
Publisher Running With Scissors initially denied any claims the developer used generative AI, however, it would later backtrack this stating "After revealing POSTAL: Bullet Paradise, a title Running With Scissors was planning on publishing but not developing, we’ve been overwhelmed with negative responses from our concerned Postal Community.
"The strong feedback from them is that elements of the game are very likely AI-generated and thus has caused extreme damage to our brand and our company reputation.
"We’ve always been, and will always be, transparent with our community. Our trust in the development team is broken, therefore we’ve killed the project. We have a lot of good things coming (some you know and some you don’t)."
The publisher added, "We’d like of course to apologize to anyone who felt insulted in the heat of the moment and we thank you for raising concerns at the time. As for those who specifically sent us death threats, the apology does not apply."
Goonswarm Games in a a post on social media revealed the game has been cancelled and they are shutting down. However, they deny the claims of generative AI use.
"Our project, and everything we built over the past six years, was canceled in just a few days. Our studio was mistakenly accused of using Al-generated art in our games, and every attempt to clarify our work only escalated the situation. In the last few hours, we've received a large number of threats, insults, and mockery, which pushed us toward a very difficult decision.
"We're truly sorry for the artists who put their soul into this and supported our studio, only to face false Al accusations. It's tough to pour so much energy into a game and end up caught in the middle of an Al war by accident.
"We've decided to shut down the studio and end all future activities. Thank you for being with us. Stay strong, play games."
Goonswarm Games in a follow-up post on social media added, "Dear gamers, we want to start with a sincere apology to everyone affected by this situation: the community, our partners, and especially the artists who supported us.
"The last few days have been overwhelming. As a small studio, suddenly pushed into the spotlight, we reacted emotionally and defensively. The accusations came as a shock, and we needed time to breathe, look at everything calmly, and understand what truly happened.
"After taking that time and conducting an internal review, we agree with your criticism. The promo art does appear to include or be influenced by Al-generated material. We collaborated with external artists for years and never saw any signs of this. The layered PSDs always looked legitimate within our internal pipeline, which is why our initial reaction was to protect our team and defend our innocence. We understand now that your concerns were valid. And we take responsibility for not catching this earlier.
"We also want to stress that this issue relates only to the promo art and does not concern the real artists who worked on gameplay visuals, assets, and other content. Many of them have nothing to do with this situation, yet they have been receiving threats, harassment, and hatred. This is deeply unfair, and we hope this message helps protect them. Their work is real, and it deserves respect.
"We previously announced the closure of the studio, but even in this state we feel responsible for the outcome. As far as our remaining resources allow, we will replace all disputed promo art across our projects with pieces created entirely by human artists. It will take time, but we will do it
"We again apologise to everyone who was harmed or affected by this situation. We never intended to mislead anyone, and our earlier statements reflected what we honestly believed at the moment."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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