Alright, who's the joker trying to charge $100 on Steam for an almost entirely AI-generated game? | PC Gamer

Games Adventure Alright, who's the joker trying to charge $100 on Steam for an almost entirely AI-generated game? News By Ted Litchfield published 13 June 2026 C'mon man. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Valve) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Thanks to the Steam Release Bot on Bluesky, I am now aware of Kryonull, a game that bums me the hell out. Not only were a majority of its assets AI-generated, but the visual novel is being sold on Steam for a ludicrous $100 US, or £90 in the UK.Kryonull is a particular bummer because its core idea is actually quite interesting, and the one thing about it that isn't AI generated⁠—at least if you take its disclosure at face value⁠—is the script. The visual novel's plot sounds like a bit of hard sci-fi goodness: A small, manned mission to Europa has to make snap decisions with major consequences as it makes first contact with something under the ice.That's rad. Unfortunately, it all falls apart from there. Under the AI-Generated Content Disclosure section of the store page, developer NovelkaGames offers the following whammy: "All images and voices in the game, as well as on the store page, were generated using AI." AI slop and wasted potential⁠—often in the same project⁠—are far from unique on Steam. What makes Kryonull particularly repulsive is that price tag.Latest Videos FromWatch full video here: Kryonull is translated in English and Russian, perhaps providing an indication to its country of origin. But according to SteamDB, its price in rubles still converts to $53 US. I don't think I'd want to exchange any money for an AI-generated game, but 50 bucks is well into "I'm insulted by the suggestion" territory⁠. There's no benefit of the doubt to make Kryonull make sense.As it stands, Kryonull gets to be an unfortunate example of the river of effluence coming out of Steam, the price of it being an open platform where anyone can share their game. Increasingly more open-ish, given Valve's compromises with payment processors and occasional unforced, confounding prudishness. You may like Owlcat says everything in its new Expanse RPG 'will definitely 100 percent be human-made,' but also that generative AI will be used for 'vision coordination' and 'inspiration' This AI startup envisions '100 million new people' making videogames 'Eventually the slop will just fall to the bottom': Garry's Mod sequel launches to 'mixed' reviews, but Garry himself isn't worried about AI games on the main page Kryonull did remind me of two, much better games you should check out instead: South Scrimshaw Part One, and Water Womb World. Both are experimental, short, sci-fi games like what Kryonull promises, but with actual effort and craft put into them.South Scrimshaw is a Planet Earth-style nature documentary about whales on an alien planet, and I've always let myself overlook its AI-generated voiceovers on account of its brilliant writing, hand-drawn visuals, and the fact that its solo developer made it while working a day job as a dishwasher. window.sliceComponents = window.sliceComponents || {}; externalsScriptLoaded.then(() => { window.reliablePageLoad.then(() => { var componentContainer = document.querySelector("#slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-3ohtCVcCLMzMNc73miR2xh"); if (componentContainer) { var data = {"layout":"inbodyContent","header":"The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals","tagline":"Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.","formFooterText":"By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.","usDisclaimerFooterText":"By signing up, you agree to our Terms of services and acknowledge that you have read our Privacy Notice. 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I haven't played it yet, but MandaloreGaming's review on YouTube got me to buy it. The former game is completely free, while the latter is just two bucks.2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { window.sliceHydrationLazy("authorBio-3ohtCVcCLMzMNc73miR2xh", "authorBio", JSON.stringify({"layout":"default","border":false,"separator":true,"name":"Ted Litchfield","role":"Associate Editor","authorLink":{"text":"Ted Litchfield","href":"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/author\/glen-litchfield\/"},"image":{"src":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/8DyQVBz7FCynDY9QiJyH9D.png","alt":"Ted Litchfield","srcSetSizes":[140],"fullscreen":false,"lazyLoading":true,"addSEOMetaData":false,"removeNativeWidthRestriction":false,"dataBordeauxImageCheckAttr":false,"noCredit":false},"socialLinks":{"socialButtons":[{"iconName":"EMAIL","href":"mailto:ted.litchfield@futurenet.com"}],"socialNavAriaLabel":"Social Links Navigation"},"biography":"Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-24/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Ted LitchfieldSocial Links NavigationAssociate EditorTed has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky. View More You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. 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