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# This Is Hopefully The Last Time I'm Writing About 1666: Amsterdam
- URL: https://aftermath.site/1666-amsterdam-ai-game/
- Published: 2026-08-14T22:03:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-17T21:02:52.000Z
- Description: 'I can ask the AI to give me 75 different variations of one thing, but I cannot have 75 different illustrators come up with a variation in three seconds'
- Author: Luke Plunkett
- Tags: AI, Video Games, Patrice Desilets, 1666: Amsterdam

The first time I wrote about the upcoming *1666: Amsterdam*[ was when the game's reveal was found to be riddled with some absolutely *dogshit* AI-generated imagery](https://aftermath.site/1666-amsterdam-made-by-a-team-including-over-a-dozen-talented-and-experienced-artists-used-ai-images-all-through-its-reveal/). The second, and hopefully final, time is to say that the studio's co-founder Patrice Désilets has not learned a damn thing from it.

[1666: Amsterdam, Made By A Team Including ‘Over A Dozen Talented And Experienced Artists’, Used AI Images All Through Its Reveal‘We are actively reviewing the assets in question’![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/icon/favicon4-5b8ec665-48c6-413b-90d9-45309b06f623.png)AftermathLuke Plunkett![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/thumbnail/1666-amsterdam-6pwhj-aab34b83-38f3-4622-afd9-4d36e3b959e5.png)](https://aftermath.site/1666-amsterdam-made-by-a-team-including-over-a-dozen-talented-and-experienced-artists-used-ai-images-all-through-its-reveal/)

In an extraordinary interview[ published on Eurogamer earlier this week](https://www.eurogamer.net/1666-amsterdam-ai-tools-controversy?ref=aftermath.site), Désilets--most famous for his work on the early *Assassin's Creed* games--tries to explain away the reveal's AI content by saying "We live in a world full of AI - let's be honest between ourselves - but there were some \[assets\] we didn't retouch enough in the pipeline, and since then we made sure that there will not be any use of AI anywhere in the game."

That's a quote from a man who sounds absolutely *cooked* on the tech, up to his eyeballs in it, trying to explain away a grievous and insulting public relations disaster by saying "well everyone is doing it, sorry we got caught". My guy we--and I'm talking about video games here in particular--[do not live in a world full of AI](https://aftermath.site/ai-resistance-tips-workforce-llm-workers/). The only people who would assume that we *are* are those either trying to sell the technology or who have become hooked on its conveniences and shortcuts.

Désilets then digs a deeper hole, saying "I can ask the AI to give me 75 different variations of one thing, but I cannot have 75 different illustrators come up with a variation in three seconds. This is the world in which we're living, and while we were this small team and building \[the game\], we put it in. We didn't even realise it was AI any more because we were used to seeing it."

To say this proudly and publicly,[ when he has 'over a dozen' professional artists working on the game'](https://aftermath.site/1666-amsterdam-made-by-a-team-including-over-a-dozen-talented-and-experienced-artists-used-ai-images-all-through-its-reveal/), and given the public's[ general disdain for AI in all aspects of game development](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/gamers-are-extremely-mad-about-ai.html?ref=aftermath.site) (but *especially* when it comes to art) is insane.

The part of the interview that *really* got to me, though, was this section, where Eurogamer's Robert Purchese helpfully provides some context for what was going on in the room (the interview took place during a press event in Amsterdam) beyond Désilets' direct quotes.

> He continued: "We can have a big discussion about AI as human beings, but right now it's tough to have the discussion." At this, another member of the press and a creator said they didn't need this discussion because it was just another tool to be used. To which Désilets added: "And it's everywhere: trying to find something on Google without AI..." But with a laugh he said he didn't want to have this discussion in front of a room of journalists.

While I understand developers would prefer not have interviews about their upcoming game divert from whatever it is *they* want to talk about, the fact here is that for many peoplethe use of AI is all they know and care about *1666*, so questions about it should be fair game. Trying to laugh that concern off with some AI-boosting ‘creator’ in the room is just the latest example of[ where the relationship between developers and what's left of video games media is at in the year 2026](https://aftermath.site/video-game-journalism-2026/). 

Anyway, like I’ve said, hopefully this is the last time I have to write about *1666*. I can leave that coverage to others, like this carefully stage-managed preview event still [managing to end on a succession of critical findings](https://youtu.be/i6uIMLgVxRE?t=317&ref=aftermath.site).