According to Eurogamer.net, publisher Running with Scissors has cancelled Postal: Bullet Paradise just two days after its reveal on December 3rd. The co-op “bullet-heaven” FPS, developed by Goonswarm Games, was planned for a PC release in 2026, with PlayStation and Switch versions to follow. Running with Scissors founder Vince Desi stated the overwhelmingly negative response from the Postal community “caused extreme damage to our brand and our company reputation.” The publisher said its trust in the development team was “broken” after feedback indicated the game appeared heavily made with generative AI. As a result, the project has been officially killed.
The AI Backlash Reckoning is Here
Here’s the thing: this is a pretty stunning move. We’re not talking about a quiet delay or a promise to “re-evaluate assets.” They straight-up killed a game two days after announcing it. That tells you the volume and intensity of the fan reaction was absolutely deafening. For a franchise like Postal, which has built its brand on a specific, edgy community rapport, this was clearly a bridge too far. Desi’s statement that they’ve “always been transparent” reads like serious damage control, an attempt to salvage a core brand value after it was completely undermined. It’s one thing for a faceless corporation to use AI tools quietly. But for a studio whose identity is tied to its fans, getting caught in a lie of omission? That’s brand poison.
Trust is the Real Currency
So what does this mean for other studios? Look, AI is being used everywhere—the article mentions Where Winds Meet for NPC conversations and Supertrick Games for Inferno. The difference is in the disclosure and the audience expectation. A tactical business simulation or an industrial control interface might prioritize pure functionality, where the origin of assets is less critical to the user experience. But in a creative, personality-driven video game? The audience feels a sense of ownership. They’re buying into a crafted world. When they suspect that world is generated by a machine, it breaks the spell and feels like a betrayal. The question isn’t really “can we use AI?” anymore. It’s “can we use it without destroying the trust we’ve spent decades building?” For Running with Scissors, the answer was a resounding no.
A New Era of Oversight?
This cancellation feels like a watershed moment. It proves that community pushback can have immediate, material consequences. Publishers are now on notice: you can’t just slap an AI-generated game out there and hope no one notices. The community *will* notice, and they have the power to force your hand. I think we’re going to see a lot more publishers tightening the reins on their development partners, demanding full transparency on tool usage long before a reveal trailer is cut. Basically, the “move fast and break things” approach to AI in game dev just met a brick wall made of angry, dedicated fans. And that might be the healthiest thing for the industry right now.
