Jurassic World Evolution 3 Ditches AI Portraits—And Fans Are Thrilled
So here’s the thing—Frontier Developments, the brains behind the Jurassic World Evolution games, just pulled a complete 180. And honestly? Gamers are loving it. A few weeks back, they announced Jurassic World Evolution 3 would use AI to generate scientist portraits. Cue the internet losing its collective mind. Fast forward to now? That AI idea is officially extinct. Gone. Kaput.
Wait, They Were Using AI For This?
Yeah, at first it kinda made sense. The studio pitched it as a way to create endless unique faces without burning out their artists. I mean, who wouldn’t want more variety, right? But here’s the catch—when you’ve got a franchise known for its insane attention to detail (we’re talking dinosaurs with individual feathers here), fans expect that same care for human characters too. AI-generated faces? Felt like serving fast food at a five-star restaurant.
And let’s be real—there’s something about hand-drawn art that just hits different. You can’t algorithm your way into that kind of soul.
Why Gamers Lost It
Man, the backlash was instant. Reddit threads exploded. Twitter rants multiplied like raptors in the wild. Three big reasons why:
- It Just Feels Off: AI art has this… uncanny valley thing going on. Like when someone’s smile doesn’t quite reach their eyes.
- Artists Got Screwed: People were mad on behalf of actual human artists who could’ve done this work. Not cool to replace them with code.
- Slippery Slope: If we let this slide, what’s next? AI-written dialogue? AI-designed levels? Suddenly every game feels like it came off an assembly line.
Remember that High on Life mess with AI voices? Exact same energy. Gamers want games made by people—not some soulless machine.
Frontier Actually Listened (Shocking, I Know)
Here’s where it gets good. Instead of doubling down like most studios do, Frontier straight up said “Our bad.” They scrapped the AI plan entirely. Their official statement basically boiled down to: “You guys care about this way more than we realized, so we’re doing it the right way.”
That’s huge. How often do companies actually admit they messed up? Almost never. Major respect points.
The Bigger Picture: AI in Gaming
Look, AI isn’t all bad—it’s great for stuff like generating random terrain in games like No Man’s Sky. But characters? That’s where things get messy. There’s a reason why we remember faces like Geralt from The Witcher or Ellie from The Last of Us. Because real artists poured their hearts into them.
Indie devs sometimes use AI tools because they’re broke—that’s understandable. But for a AAA title like this? Nah. Fans expect the good stuff.
What’s Next for the Game?
With the AI nonsense out of the way, here’s what I’m hoping for:
- More ridiculous dinosaur hybrids (give me a T-Rex with wings already)
- Actual personality for those scientists—let them complain about cafeteria food or something
- And for god’s sake, bring back Jeff Goldblum’s snarky commentary
Delays are almost guaranteed now, but honestly? Worth it. Rather wait for something amazing than get a rushed product full of janky AI faces.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, this whole mess proves one thing: gamers can still shape the industry when they speak up. AI might have its uses, but creativity? That’s strictly human territory. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go replay the first two games—you know, the ones made entirely by actual people.
What do you think about all this? Team “AI is the future” or Team “Keep games human”? Hit me up in the comments—just don’t start any flame wars. We’ve got enough heat without waking the damn T-Rex.
Source: IGN – All Games
