Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, the fursuit-wearing fighting game savant who once proclaimed that they were “gay, black, a furry; pretty much everything a Republican hates” on The Game Awards stage, has added another to their list of outside-the-arena accomplishments. Upon discovering that Nexcon—a gaming event taking place in Oklahoma next month at which McLean was set to be a special guest—had used AI art for promotional purposes, McLean promptly pulled out.
“Not sure who’s in charge of Nexcon, but I absolutely refuse to have my likeness be AI generated and my interest in attending as a special guest has dropped to 0,” McLean wrote on Twitter earlier this week. “Incredibly disrespectful.”
The same day, they added that they’d terminated their contract and would no longer be attending.
Ty Bailey of Ninjutsu Entertainment, the organization putting on Nexcon, ended up posting a video apologizing to McLean and clarifying that organizers meant no disrespect. He went on to explain that Ninjutsu only resorted to AI because it had run out of money to pay human artists and implored SonicFox to reconsider. “We’re not gonna stop the con,” Bailey said, “but we definitely need you, SonicFox.”
Despite the emotional appeal, McLean held firm.
“I’m a forgiving person, and I can hear the remorse in your voice so I forgive you,” McLean said in response to the video. “However, there are still consequences to said actions that will prompt me not to attend. Use the money you offered me in contract to hire artists, and maybe next year I’ll reconsider. Sorry.”
“Me showing up is not what you need,” they continued. “You need a grounded base to build up from there. If all goes well and you build a community with willing artists and talent and remove all AI, I may be more amenable to next year. You’d be surprised at how many folks would give you a shot.”
It seems like Nexcon’s organizers are taking McLean’s advice to heart. Actions, however, speak louder than words. Maybe this story will have a happy ending next year.
