Manor Lords Publisher Has Banned AI Assets In Its Games, Calls Them “Cancerous”
Hooded Horse, the strategy game publisher known for launching hits like *Manor Lords*, *Terra Invicta*, and *Against the Storm*, is drawing a firm line in the sand regarding generative AI. In a move that goes against the current industry trend of integrating AI tools, the publisher has officially banned the use of any AI-generated assets across its entire portfolio of published titles.
This decisive policy is cemented in contractual law. CEO Tim Bender told Kotaku that restrictions on AI art are now explicitly written into every publishing agreement signed by Hooded Horse, emphasizing the zero-tolerance stance. Bender voiced intense personal frustration with the technology, stating that, from an oversight perspective, generative AI has only complicated their business operations.
The central issue, Bender explained, is the difficulty of policing the technology once it enters the development pipeline. Even when assets are intended solely for placeholder use, they can easily slip through quality assurance and find their way into the final product. Due to this risk, Hooded Horse now strongly advises its developers to eschew generative AI entirely, recommending that it not be used at any point during the creation process, regardless of whether the asset is intended for the finished game or not. This positions the popular strategy publisher as one of the most vocally opposed entities to the use of AI in game development today.