According to the official announcement, there will be no AI video contest as part of Party Animals’ Golden Paw Awards. This comes as the studio has decided to cancel the event entirely and apologize to players after receiving a large amount of backlash from players and voting across major platforms.
“We deeply apologize for the controversy surrounding the recent Golden Paw Awards AI video contest,” the studio said in a social media post. “To all the players, especially the creator community, who have raised their concerns, shared their criticisms, and voiced their opinions.
Dear Party Animals players, We would like to extend our deepest apologies to all players, especially the creators, who expressed concern, shared criticism, and voiced their opinions regarding the recent controversy surrounding the Golden Paw Awards AI video contest.May 19, 2026
“Once again, we would like to sincerely apologize to all the players who were distressed, disappointed, and offended by this situation. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the players who spoke out, voted, and helped us reevaluate this issue.”
The studio went on to explain that upon reflection, its initial response to the situation was “inadequate.” However, admittedly that may be a bit of an understatement. After announcing an original AI video contest and encountering a ton of backlash from all kinds of players. My first reaction was to wonder if I should proceed with the event anyway.
“Our original aim was to encourage more diverse forms of creative expression, lower the barrier to entry, and allow more party animal-loving players to join,” the studio explains.
“We mistakenly linked ‘lowering barriers’ with ‘leveraging AI’. In doing so, we overlooked the potential discomfort and harm that the ongoing debate around AI-generated content could cause to our player and creator communities. We are deeply concerned and sorry about this, and we take your criticism seriously.”
There’s no question that this was the right move for Party Animals, even if it was a little late. However, following the apology, the developers promised that this was a learning experience for them and that in the future they would be more careful about using and promoting AI than real artists.
The studio said, “From now on, we will approach related topics with a more humble and cautious attitude.” “Before we launch any future community-created events, we pledge to communicate thoroughly, listen seriously to your feedback, and ensure we reach community consensus before deciding whether to run them… We hereby commit to listening more to our players, valuing your voices, and maintaining closer communication with our community.”
