"This was not a Creative Assembly developed game": Total War boss points the finger at external partner for Shogun 2 Complete Edition disaster

Key Points:

• Creative Assembly and Sega removed Total War: Shogun 2's remastered Complete Edition from Steam due to widespread complaints about technical issues and the use of AI-generated art, prompting a personal apology from Total War VP Roger Collum.
• Collum attributed some responsibility to an unnamed external developer, noting the game was not developed internally and did not undergo their usual quality assurance processes; Mataboo Games is listed as a co-developer on Steam.
• Creative Assembly clarified their stance on generative AI, stating they use it only for support tasks like analysis, debugging, and prototyping, but strictly prohibit its use for creating game assets or art, demanding the same from external partners.
• Sega and senior Creative Assembly developers are collaborating with the external team to address the issues, with further updates promised; meanwhile, Collum urged the community to refrain from harassing individual developers, emphasizing their safety and the importance of respectful communication.
• Collum warned that ongoing harassment could lead the studio to reduce transparency in the future, underscoring the need to protect staff who are working hard amid the controversy.