UPDATE 9/1/24: Magic: The Gathering maker Wizards of the Coast has issued a statement saying it will work with external vendors to ensure AI-generated artwork is kept out of promotional material for the game.
The statement follows the recent departure of an artist at the company, who said he had quit in protest at the promotional material.
“Thanks to our diligent community who pointed out a series of recent marketing images may have included elements of generative AI, we are rethinking our process of how we work with vendors for our marketing creative,” Wizards of the Coast wrote in a new statement.
“We already made clear that we require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the Magic TCG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic products. What’s now apparent is that we need to update the way we work with vendors on creative beyond our products – like marketing images we use on social media – to make sure that we’re supporting the amazing human ingenuity that is so important to Magic.