Among the game trailers showcased at The Game Awards 2024 was Catly — an MMO featuring cats from the studio SuperAuthenti. Online speculation arose that both the trailer and the game might have been created using generative artificial intelligence (AI). However, in a statement to IGN, the developers of Catly claimed otherwise.
According to a representative from SuperAuthenti, the studio was very surprised by these assumptions.
"We did not use generative AI to create the trailer or the game. We doubt that there are AI tools capable of producing such a video. Industry experts share our view," said the representative from SuperAuthenti.
He added that the studio is developing Catly using the Unreal Engine 5 and utilizing specialized software for rendering the cats' fur. This has allowed them to achieve a hyper-realistic effect.
SuperAuthenti also showed IGN an early version of the trailer, which included footage of Catly's development process. These demonstrate the absence of generative AI.
Additionally, the representative from SuperAuthenti pointed out that Catly contains neither NFTs nor other blockchain elements—rumors of their presence in the game also emerged following the trailer's presentation at The Game Awards 2024. As evidence, online discussions referenced, among other things, the previous work experience of the hypothetical co-founder of the studio, Kevin Yeung. He once opened a blockchain studio, TenthPlanet, with a portfolio that includes the cat metaverse Alien Meow, which partially resembles Catly.
Notably, the developers of Catly previously removed several screenshots from the game's official website. These images showed artifacts and errors typical of AI. However, these can still be observed on the current Catly screenshots available on Steam. The representative from SuperAuthenti did not comment on this to IGN.
The Catly trailer shown at The Game Awards 2024