Party Animals review bombed after announcing AI video contest with $15K grand prize

The popular game ‘Party Animals’ is receiving a lot of negative reviews and players are uninstalling it due to a recent contest featuring videos created with artificial intelligence.

On May 12th, the official Party Animals social media pages announced a competition called the ‘Golden Paw Awards.’

You can submit your work between May 14th and August 31st. The contest requires all videos to heavily feature Generative AI – think AI-created images, videos, music, voiceovers, 3D elements, and more – as a central part of the creative process.

Participants need to create videos that are five minutes or shorter and share them on popular social media platforms with designated hashtags. These videos, often called ‘short films,’ should focus on fun and upbeat content related to the ‘Party Animals’ game, and can be submitted by individuals or teams.

A total of $75,000 in prizes is available, with the grand prize winner receiving $15,000 and a special ‘Golden Paw Trophy.’ Additional awards will be given for Best Story, Best Creativity, Best Sound & Visuals, and a Players’ Choice award.

Get ready for the Party Animals AI Video Contest! We’re launching the “Golden Paw Awards” – a chance to bring your most creative Party Animals ideas to life. Have you imagined a unique story, a funny short film, or a special tribute to your favorite character? Now’s your chance to create it!

— Party Animals (@party_animals) May 13, 2026

Party Animals’ AI video contest sparks backlash from players

The announcement immediately received strong negative reactions, and player dissatisfaction has continued to increase over the past day.

The game is now getting review-bombed on Steam, with recent reviews slamming it for “pushing generative AI.”

“If you’re gonna push AI into my life, you will regret it,” one review reads.

Look, I rarely leave bad reviews, but I had to say something because I’m really not okay with them supporting that AI-generated content – it just feels cheap and lazy.

“Promoting AI slop got me feeling HOSTILE,” another reads.

ya no, I’m good

— 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 🔜 DBD MTL 🍁 (@PVNKSTER) May 13, 2026

It’s really frustrating to see so many players, myself included, even deleting the game from Steam! Everyone on social media is upset with the Party Animals developers, saying they just don’t seem to understand what the fans want. It feels like a really out-of-touch move on their part, and a lot of us are disappointed.

So far, there hasn’t been an official statement addressing the criticism. However, they’re not the first developers to receive negative feedback for using AI. For example, the game Arc Raiders faced strong player opposition when it was discovered that AI generated the voice acting.

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2026-05-14 00:19