The first high-profile rejection of the technology in the board game space came in September 2023, when tabletop publishers, artists and players took to social media and BoardGameGeek forums to condemn Stronghold Games using AI art in the development of the latest Terraforming Mars Kickstarter campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That campaign still saw Stronghold\u00a0raise more than $2.2m from over 19,000 backers<\/a>, however, and online pushback against tabletop projects using the technology are frequently met with counter-resistance from pro-AI supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fellow board game publisher Awaken Realms collected $3.8m for Grimcoven, which includes AI generated images, via a Gamefound campaign<\/a>\u00a0the following year, and games such as the $1.2m\u00a0Wonders of the First CCG<\/a>\u00a0and Wise Wizard Games’ Draconis 8<\/a> have actively leaned in to the use of AI artwork as a selling point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While many smaller board game publishers and creators have been vocal online about steering clear of AI-generated imagery, large board game publishers to actively come out against AI artwork in a meaningful way have been few and far between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The highest profile of those so far has been Wingspan and Scythe publisher Stonemaier Games, with co-founder Jamey Stegmaier\u00a0telling BoardGameWire in April 2024 that his company wants \u201cnothing to do with it\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month prior to that Awaken Realms had to take down AI-generated promotional images for its Puerto Rico 1897 Special Edition crowdfunding campaign,\u00a0after being contacted by the game\u2019s licensor Ravensburger<\/a>\u00a0and reminded that generative AI \u201ccannot be used in any part of the art process\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the summer of that year\u00a0Spiel Essen<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the world\u2019s biggest board game fair \u2013\u00a0stopped using AI generated images to market the event<\/a>, citing criticism from industry professionals and consumers about the previous year’s campaign and ongoing uncertainties about the legality of the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last summer Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler confirmed to BoardGameWire that the board game giant’s policy was not to use AI art in any of its own productions, a position he indicated would continue for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That policy has not prevented Asmodee from distributing games which make use of AI-generated imagery, however, including Path of Civilization<\/a> and the Prelude 2 expansion for Terraforming Mars<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About two thirds of Asmodee\u2019s net sales \u2013 which reached \u20ac1.36bn during the last financial year \u2013 come from the company distributing games from other publishers, while almost 70% of Asmodee\u2019s 2,200-plus workforce are focused on distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Games Workshop’s latest half-yearly results also revealed it had taken a \u00a36m hit in its pre-tax profits due to US tariff policy, but added, “The impact on our gross margin has been more than offset by efficiencies, price rises of c.3.5% on our miniatures and books, more stable commodity prices and lower stock write offs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our work is not done – this will remain a key area of focus.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rountree added that Games Workshop and the Warhammer hobby were in “great shape”, saying, “We have delivered profitable sales growth in all our core 23 countries and all our three channels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Sales growth was driven by the release every week of new miniatures across the whole breadth of our IP, another successful period for sales of existing products and exciting customer engagement focused on our IP and the multiple ways to engage in the Warhammer hobby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We also continue to expand our own stores geographically (slightly slower than we had planned but I’m sure we will catch up) and our dedicated export team delivered product range support to our distributors in our 58 export countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “All but a few continue to deliver like-for-like growth year after year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Terraforming-Mars-Prelude-2-Image-BoardGameGeek-01-13-2026_03_33_PM.jpg\")