Steam game Postal: Bullet Paradise was canceled within a day of its unveiling after a flurry of fan accusations that it was using artificial intelligence. While the developer initially denied the allegations, the decision to end the Steam-only title came from the publisher.
The Postal the franchise is owned by Running with Scissors (RWS), a company based in Tucson, Arizona. Since the series began in 1997, RWS has developed all but two entries: Postal 3 (2011), developed in collaboration with Trashmasters and Postal: Brain Damaged (2022), created by Hyperstrange and CreativeForge Games. On December 3, RWS announced a third externally developed project, Postal: Bullet Paradisedescribed as a time-traveling shooter from indie studio Goonswarm Games.
Mail: Bullet Paradise canceled after poor reception of reveal
A day later, RWS announced it was canceling Postal: Bullet Paradise. The publisher cited the largely negative reaction of the online community as the reason for its decision, and acknowledged widespread social media accusations that the project uses artificial intelligence-generated art. “Our trust in the development team is broken, so we've killed the project,” RWS said in a prepared statement, though without directly confirming fans' suspicions about the origins of some Postal: Bullet Paradiseuser assets.
The publisher of Postal: Bullet Paradise issues an interim apology to fans
In a separate tweet, RWS issued a tentative apology to “anyone who felt offended in the heat of the moment,” except for the people who sent her death threats. Some fans criticized the phrase, arguing that the “hot moment” downplayed instances where company representatives allegedly insulted users on the RWS Discord server — and in one case used profanity — while responding to AI-related allegations in the 24 hours between Postal: Bullet Paradise is declared and cancelled. “They CAN still be forgiven, but whoever allowed the outrageous insults needs to jump immediately,” one vocal fan wrote on Twitter.
Postal: Bullet Paradise Dev Denies AI Allegations, Then Changes His Mind
Goonswarm Games initially denied the AI art allegations on December 5, but simultaneously announced the decision to shut down its studio. A day later, the company issued another statement apologizing for reacting “emotionally and defensively”, saying the mistake was made because the first wave of allegations was shocking. However, after conducting an internal review, the studio changed its mind, admitting that “the promo art appears to include material created by or influenced by artificial intelligence. [sic].” Goonswarm insisted that all in-game assets were created by “real artists,” stating that its internal review only identified issues with the promotional visuals, though without elaborating.
In its statement on December 6, the company reaffirmed its intention to close the studio. However, it also included a surprising commitment to “replace all questionable promo art across our projects with works created entirely by human artists.” This appears to be in response to social media users pointing out that some of Goonswarm's promo banners used for its other games show signs of AI generation, such as a character with a sword and a missing finger. In a statement to Polygon, Goonswarm said its closure will affect a total of nine people, including full-time developers and contractors.
While Running with Scissors is no stranger to controversy, the backlash against it Postal games usually come from the general public rather than their own fan base. The publisher said that although Postal: Bullet Paradise isn't moving forward, many more plans for the franchise are currently in motion, with the first in the series set to be officially announced in 2026.
Source: Polygon
