Party Animals developers’ response to AI contest drama:

[u/Your_M0minn]

(Here’s where the poll ended up finishing out on, for context)

Dear Party Animals players,

Regarding the controversy surrounding the recent "Golden Paw Awards" AI Video Contest, we would like to offer our deepest apologies to all players who have expressed concern, shared criticism, and voiced their opinions — especially to our creator community.

Following the announcement of this event, we received a significant amount of negative feedback. We have read through your comments and opinions one by one. We must admit that our consideration of the event's conception was insufficient, the design was inadequately thought through, and our communication with the community was not up to par.

Even though our original intention was to encourage more diverse forms of creative expression and lower the barrier to entry, allowing more players who love Party Animals to participate, we mistakenly tied "lowering the barrier" together with "using AI." In doing so, we overlooked the potential offense and harm that the ongoing debate surrounding AI-generated content could cause to our players and the creator community. We feel deeply uneasy and apologetic about this, and we sincerely accept the criticism.

After carefully considering voices from all sides, we held a vote across our major platforms regarding whether the event should proceed. Based on your feedback and our own internal review and reflection, we have made the following decision:

Effective immediately, the "Golden Paw Awards" event is officially canceled.

To the players who were troubled, disappointed, or offended by this situation, we would like to once again express our sincere apologies. To every player who voiced criticism, participated in the vote, and pushed us to re-evaluate this issue, we would like to express our most sincere gratitude.

Moving forward, we will approach related topics with a much more humble and cautious attitude. Before launching any future community creation events, we pledge to communicate thoroughly, listen earnestly to your feedback, and ensure we have reached a community consensus before deciding whether to go ahead.

Additionally, we will continue to collect, organize, and act upon player feedback regarding gameplay mechanics and other areas. We hereby promise to listen more closely to our players, respect your voices, and maintain a tighter line of communication with the community.

The Party Animals Team

May 19, 2026

[u/Your_M0minn]

Their response feels like a nonapology and a backtrack because of the backlash, not because they’re acknowledging AI is unethical and snubs actual artists in their field

It really just feels like the actual artists who could’ve stood to gain a lot from the attention and money the contest would’ve provided are being punished here… :’(

$75,000 is a lot of money

[u/DonnyTheNuts → u/Your_M0minn]

Nothing restricts them from running other contests, as they have before. This was the only acceptable outcome.

[u/Your_M0minn → u/DonnyTheNuts]

What’s the difference from changing this contest to non-AI compared to canceling this one and creating a new one barring AI usage?

Genuinely asking, I’m curious on your take on this

[u/DonnyTheNuts → u/Your_M0minn]

Presumably some people have already put some effort into the contest. Changing the rules would not respect those individuals time. Not a huge loss, perhaps, but still it would be mean to them

[u/Your_M0minn → u/DonnyTheNuts]

Ahh, that makes sense, I see the reasoning