Developer of ‘Ecosocialist’ Game Offers Refunds After AI Controversy Despite Labeling It ‘Technofascist’

You might expect that a game set in an “ecosocialist utopia” crafted by a well-known leftist developer, who claims to have created it “with locally sourced talent and minimal involvement from capitalists, marketers, or profiteers,” would steer clear of generative AI, right?

…Right?

Released in September, *Future? No Thanks!* is an adventure title from Paolo Pedercini, who goes by the name Molleindustria. The game follows a grumpy old man on a quest to tick off items on his bucket list before opting for assisted suicide in a world where “climate change is finally being addressed, democracy flourishes, and technology benefits the public.”

However, the game has recently come under fire for its previously undisclosed use of generative AI. In a blog post this week, Pedercini acknowledged that the game features AI-generated elements, including two text-to-speech voices and two music loops created with Suno, despite later stating that “AI is a technofascist, anti-human and anti-art project.” He also noted that “a tiny fraction” of the code was debugged using ChatGPT and Claude.

On Friday, he published another blog post to clarify that the AI-generated content (aside from the code) has been removed from the game. He defended his initial use of AI, explaining that the music loops were intended to mock “losers who listen to slop” in early demos and that the AI voices were “funnier in that context.”

“In my opinion, the game is worse now, but only, like, 0.001% worse,” he remarked.

Pedercini is now offering refunds to players who bought the game and “still feel betrayed” via PayPal and Venmo, which is a considerate gesture. He also mentioned that his next project will be entirely hand-coded. However, this offer feels overshadowed by the overly sarcastic tone of his blog post, which is filled with AI justifications:

“How dare I make a communist game with the master’s tools? Would I eat a sandwich if it had ONLY A LITTLE POOP in it? Am I satirizing the puppy-killing machine by KILLING PUPPIES?”

What’s particularly odd is that Pedercini is known for his extensive collection of quirky browser games that tackle themes like booing the Confederate flag, exploring Soviet workers’ clubs, and running *The New York Times* while catering to the wealthy and powerful. None of these games shy away from their political messages, making it all the more perplexing to see him promote a socialist, eco-friendly vision while employing the very tools that threaten that future.

It’s worth noting that AI can be critiqued without actually using AI. Even *It’s Always Sunny* managed to pull that off.