AI at Specpixel — a disclosure, not a stance
Does New Citizen use AI? Yes — as a tool in development, in a few specific places, never unreviewed. Here is exactly where it is used, where it isn't, and what we've promised ourselves we won't do. Signed by the founder.
Does New Citizen or any part of Specpixel use AI? Yes — as a tool in development, in a small number of specific places, with a person reviewing and owning every result. Nothing in the game is generated while you play. The exact list is below, and this page is updated whenever it changes.
Where AI is used
| Area | AI involvement |
|---|---|
| Code debugging & assistance | Yes. AI helps us debug and fix networking code and build smarter backend systems — for example the database-connection API that links a server to its own domain. Every line is reviewed, tested and owned by us. |
| Background music | Yes, partly. Some background tracks are AI-generated. We can't yet afford a composer for the volume of ambient music a living city needs, and we'd rather give you variety than one or two loops. This will be the first thing we replace when the budget allows, and it is credited as such. |
| Marketing & outreach emails | AI drafts, a human reads and approves every single one before it is sent. |
| Studio tooling | AI assists on our internal tools and this website's systems. |
Where AI is not used
| Area | Status |
|---|---|
| The environment, the city, the world | Built entirely by hand by Tanner Rozankovic. |
| Art, 3D models, textures, UI, characters, vehicles | No AI-generated art. |
| Game design, systems, mechanics, writing | Designed and written by people. |
| Voice | Yes we use AI voices. |
What we will not do
- Ship AI-generated content in the game without saying so, here and on the Steam page.
- Replace a credited artist, composer or voice actor with AI without disclosing it.
- Pass off generated work as hand-made.
- Train anything on other people's work without permission.
- Let anything AI-assisted ship unreviewed. Human in the loop is the rule, not the exception.
Why we use it at all
I'll be straight with you, because that's the only version of this page worth writing.
I've been pulling apart scripts and modding games since I was eight, and making games since I was twelve. Most of my life in this field is from before AI arrived. I know how it feels to watch a tool do in minutes what took me years to learn, and I don't think any developer who lived through that transition finds it simple.
New Citizen is self-funded. Over thirty thousand dollars of my own money has gone into it — money I earned working as a support worker — while raising a kid. There is no publisher and no investor cheque behind this game. When you're in that position you play every legitimate card you have, carefully. AI is one of those cards. It lets a tiny team move faster on the unglamorous parts — debugging netcode, plumbing databases — so the time and money we do have goes into the city itself.
We are not a "pro-AI" company and we are not against it. I think it's a double-edged sword, I think it's not going anywhere, and I think we're still in the very early, uncomfortable part of working out what it means — some people hate it, some love it, and a lot of us are on the fence and will probably stay there. I'm one of them. I'll also be honest that I personally believe AI is going to reshape far more than game development; I'm not happy or angry about that, it's just what I see coming. None of that changes the rules above.
My opinions here aren't set in stone. Like anyone's, they'll move as the world does. What won't move is the commitment to tell you exactly what we're doing.
Tell us if we get it wrong
This page is a conversation, not a press release. If you think a line above is wrong, or we've crossed one of our own rules, say so on Discord or at business@specpixel.com. We'd rather hear it from you than read it somewhere else.
— Tanner Rozankovic, Founder, Specpixel Entertainment PTY LTD · Melbourne, Australia
This disclosure is linked from the New Citizen Steam page under AI-generated content. Version 1 — first published November 2026. Updated whenever our use of AI changes.
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