The creative tension within the gaming industry has reached a boiling point as Joris De Man, the award-winning composer behind Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, voiced his blunt opposition to generative AI. According to an official post from Food4Dogs, which highlights a recent interview with Edge magazine, De Man described the industry’s pivot toward AI-generated art as “f**king insane.”
As reported by Kotaku, the composer acknowledged that while the technical side of the software is impressive, the artistic side of his brain finds the implications terrifying. This critique arrives shortly after Sony signaled a heavy interest in the technology, leaving many to wonder about the future of human-led design in first-party titles. We have previously discussed the ethical implications of PlayStation’s AI ambition and where the line should be drawn in modern development.
De Man specifically targeted the lack of soul in AI work, noting that human mistakes and unexpected accidents are what truly define great art. He also did not hold back against the tech giants driving this change, naming OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google as companies that chose to train their models on existing work without licensing or attribution.
Beyond the AI debate, the industry is seeing further volatility with the announcement that Lego 2K Drive will be delisted from storefronts on May 19, 2026, just three years after its initial May 2023 release. This news comes as other major titles shift their strategies; for instance, the ARC Raiders roadmap through early 2027 shows a move toward less frequent, more substantial updates to maintain long-term player engagement.
The Breakdown
- Lego 2K Drive will be removed from all digital storefronts on May 19, 2026; the game’s online features are scheduled to shut down permanently in May 2027.
- Joris De Man, composer for the Horizon series, criticized OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google for training AI on unlicensed data and stated that AI lacks the essential “human mistakes” of art.
- Embark Studios announced that Arc Raiders is moving from monthly content drops to just two major, transformative updates per year to ensure developer sustainability.
- A new space-themed Lego pinball machine set has leaked with a reported release date of July 1 and a retail price of $200.
The Jay Respawns Take
Joris De Man is speaking for a massive portion of the development community that feels increasingly sidelined by the corporate rush toward automation. When a composer of his caliber, who has defined the sonic identity of Aloy and her world, calls the current trajectory “insane,” publishers should probably listen.
The magic of Horizon Forbidden West does not come from a prompt; it comes from the meticulous, often messy process of human creation. If Sony continues to lean into generative AI, they risk alienating the very talent that made the PlayStation brand a bastion for prestige gaming.
Meanwhile, the delisting of Lego 2K Drive is a grim reminder of why the digital-only future is a minefield for consumers. This game came out in 2023 and is already being scrubbed from history by May 2026. It is an absurdly short lifespan for a title that many families likely still enjoy.
Between the threat of AI replacing artists and the literal disappearance of games from our libraries, the industry is currently facing a massive identity crisis. We need to prioritize preservation and human ingenuity before the landscape becomes a collection of temporary, algorithmically generated products.
Keep your physical discs close and your human artists closer.
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