Fans claim Blizzard's new Diablo Immortal x Hearthstone art was made with generative AI
The ear is the most convincing part of Reddit user Ipyreable's post that claims artwork posted by official Diablo Immortal social media accounts was created with generative AI. Human ears simply do not look like that, even in the fantasy universes of Warcraft and Diablo.
The art, which depicts a Warcraft character playing Hearthstone against a Diablo Immortal character to promote an upcoming crossover event, has several other strange artifacts that support Ipyreable's theory.
Slices of bread are inexplicably resting on the table without a plate, the man's hand fades into the wall in the background, a candle is lit with something that doesn't look like fire, card backs have swirls going in different directions, and one card looks like it has Hearthstone's board on it.
While we don't know if the image will appear in either of the games, the Diablo Immortal social media accounts have all posted it in the leadup to the event. Curiously, the Hearthstone accounts have not, which might only be because the event is largely focused on Diablo Immortal.
from r/hearthstone/comments/1m5v4d1/diablo_x_hearthstone_colab_is_ai_generated
Blizzard has been accused of using AI art before in Hearthstone. Last year, it said it was investigating claims that pixel art skins from The Great Dark Beyond expansion were created with generative AI after an X user made a thread about it. People also found that the artist, Trey Fore, had images on their Instagram that resembled those made with generative AI.
Before Blizzard ever confirmed whether or not generative AI was used to make the skins, however, they were removed in a hotfix.
No artist is credited to the Diablo Immortal art, but there are plenty of X users and Reddit users who are pretty convinced it wasn't entirely made by a human. "That's so disappointing, and disgusting. Hearthstone's pride is its artwork, why do this!?" asked one Reddit user.
Given the amount of generative AI that keeps slipping into games, I don't blame people for being paranoid about it, especially for a studio as prestigious as Blizzard. I too would be very disappointed if this turned out to be the work of a computer and not one of the many skilled artists at the studio.
I've asked Blizzard if it can confirm people's suspicions about the use of generative AI and will update the post if I hear back.