Does Wild West Pioneers use AI?

The demo did, and its store page said so: placeholder voices, music, character portraits and other 2D art. Over the following months the character art was redrawn by hand and the voices were recorded by real people. The store page now says every AI-generated asset was replaced. Below is each step in the order it happened, in the words used at the time.

How did the AI question unfold?

1. On the day the demo launched A player on the Steam forum asked whether the game used AI for its art, because the trailer’s narration sounded AI-generated. (Asked in Steam discussions: the first public AI question)
2. At the demo launch, on the store page The store carried Steam’s AI disclosure: “This game is using generative AI for placeholder voiceover, music, character portraits and other 2D artwork.” (Preserved in the store page as archived with its AI disclosure)
3. About a week later GameStar posted the demo’s opening 20 minutes under a title ending “und ja, das Spiel ist voller KI-generierter Inhalte” (German for: and yes, the game is full of AI-generated content). AI was also one of the two most common complaints in the demo’s negative Steam reviews. (See GameStar's video of the demo's first 20 minutes)
4. In spring The first public admission came in a dev blog about the character art: “you also noticed that we used AI in some of our processes, like character assets or voiceover placeholders. As part of our ongoing improvements, we’re moving away from that approach and focusing fully on a handcrafted, artist-driven direction going forward.” The new characters are drawn on top of 3D models, in a comic style with halftone shading. (Said in Steam announcement: The Frontier on Canvas (Dev Blog)) A week later a Toplitz community manager told a player on the forum that the voices were “indeed placeholder.” (Said in Steam discussions: publisher replies on AI voice-over)
5. In summer “Characters now use a new, fully handmade style inspired by comic books”, and: “We have also removed the AI voiceover from the game. Casting is currently underway, and the final game will feature real voice actors.” (Said in Steam announcement: A New Direction for Wild West Pioneers)
6. Later in summer, on Reddit The account u/EmpireCrafters, which carries the team’s name but whose identity is not verified, replied to a critic: “AI was used to assist with some art earlier in development, but we no longer use it.” (Posted in r/CityBuilders: From a few settlers to a frontier empire (u/EmpireCrafters))
7. When the open playtest opened The Toplitz community manager went back to the voice-over thread: “the voice over has been fully recorded and replaced for the release of today’s open playtest and the EA release.” (Said in Steam discussions: publisher replies on AI voice-over)
8. While the open playtest was running The AI disclosure section was no longer on the store page. In its place was a developer note about replacing the AI-generated assets and re-recording the voice-over. (Preserved in the store page as archived with the developer's note)
9. After the open playtest Answering a playtester’s feedback, the same community manager wrote: “Regarding the voice over, there are no AI voices, everything is humans. Some of the characters are even voiced by some of my colleagues.” (Said in Steam discussions: publisher reply that every voice is human)
10. Now The store page note reads: “we replaced all AI-generated assets with work created by our own artists, and re-recorded the voiceovers with real actors.” (Written on the Steam store page)

What is AI and what isn’t now?

• Voices. The store page describes “fully voiced dialogue performed by real actors”, and the Toplitz community manager said there are no AI voices. One player in the open playtest felt otherwise and wrote that human actors would make a noticeable difference compared to AI voices. Both are on record; the publisher’s answer came in reply to that player. (Store wording on the Steam store page)
• Character art. Drawn by the team’s artist over 3D models, in the comic style pictured above. (Described in Steam announcement: The Frontier on Canvas (Dev Blog))
• Music and other 2D art. Both were on the demo-era disclosure. No later statement names them one by one; the store note speaks of all AI-generated assets.
• Steam’s AI disclosure section. Not on the store page any more.

Only English has full voice-over; the other six supported languages do not. The languages page has the list.

Where exactly was AI used? The accounts differ

The statements do not describe the same scope, so here they are side by side rather than merged into one answer.

Related: Reviews so far · Demo and playtests · Reddit, Discord and videos · Early Access and roadmap