Big Walk, the co-op walking game from Untitled Goose Game studio House House and one of 2026’s best-reviewed games, is at the centre of the industry’s AI argument. After a group of Independent Games Festival (IGF) jurors said they would not vote for any game that used generative AI “in any capacity”, House House disclosed that it used chatbots to help fix bugs late in development. Here is exactly what the studio says it did, where different awards and stores draw the line, and what it could mean for Big Walk’s awards season.
Last checked on November 12, 2026. Official House House’s account comes from its own Big Walk FAQ; release date, price and score from the Steam listing. Reported The jurors’ statement is reported by The Verge, Polygon and Shacknews. Our math Comparisons and takeaways are ours.
Update, November 12: Big Walk won the Critics’ Choice Award at the Golden Joystick Awards on November 11. See every Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winner. November 13: it was also nominated for Stream Game of the Year at The Streamer Awards, which went to Meccha Chameleon (all Streamer Awards 2026 winners).
What House House says it used AI for
Official “In the final stretch of Big Walk’s development, LLMs were used sparingly by House House to help work through difficult technical challenges and bugs,” the studio writes. “In some cases, snippets from LLM responses were copied as a starting point to be modified into game code—we’d estimate that well under 0.1% of Big Walk’s code had anything to do with this usage, and generative AI was not used in any other context when making the game.”
Official Its example: Unity’s URP renderer would only cull shadow casters by distance in front of the camera, so shadows behind the player were rendered at infinite distance and the game ran 50% slower for about 20 seconds at every sunrise and sunset. The team researched it, read the URP code and asked an engineer at Unity, who concluded it was not possible. A chatbot then suggested a fix that the team “had to modify extensively”; it ended up as about 10 lines of code inside URP.
Official House House says it disclosed this in its IGF submission but not on Steam, because “the platform does not request disclosure of code or chatbot usage”. It calls the lack of an internal AI policy “a failure”, apologises that the use “may not meet” the jurors’ standards and says the disclosure is “not an endorsement of, or argument for, the use of AI tools, however minimal”.
What the IGF jurors said
Reported A group of 19 IGF jurors, including Immortality director Sam Barlow, Celeste composer Lena Raine and Austin Walker, published a statement saying they would not vote for games made with generative AI “in any capacity”, explicitly including code. The statement says it does not speak for the IGF as an organisation or for all jurors. Barlow later said Big Walk was not the “impetus” but became the “tricky edge case”, and that “this is not a call to boycott a certain game”.
Where the lines are drawn
| Who | Rule or position | Covers code help? | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 IGF jurors | Will not vote for games using generative AI in any capacity | Yes | Reported |
| Steam | Asks developers to disclose AI-generated content; House House says it does not ask about code or chatbot use | No (per House House) | Official |
| Indie Game Awards (not the IGF) | Stripped Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 of its 2025 Game of the Year over AI use | Content | Reported |
| Take-Two / Rockstar | Strauss Zelnick: “generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building” (February 2026) | Not specified | Reported |
| House House | No AI policy during Big Walk; promises a “more comprehensive policy going forwards” | Used for about 10 lines in one example | Official |
Our math The gap is clear: one jury counts a chatbot-suggested bug fix the same as AI art or writing, while Steam’s disclosure only covers what ends up as content in the game. Players reading a store page have no way to know about code help unless the studio volunteers it, as House House did.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Label |
|---|---|---|
| August 4, 2026 | Big Walk released by House House and Panic ($19.99 on Steam) | Official |
| November 9, 2026 | 19 IGF jurors publish their statement (a Monday, per Polygon) | Reported |
| Nov 9-10, 2026 | House House posts its AI disclosure on the Big Walk FAQ and to Aftermath | Official |
| November 11, 2026 | The Guardian and others cover the fallout | Reported |
| December 2026 | The Game Awards, where Polygon had seen Big Walk as a likely Game of the Year nominee | Reported |
What it means
- For players: nothing in the game changes. Big Walk is still $19.99 on Steam with a Metacritic score of 91 on its listing.
- For awards: the jurors’ stance affects their own IGF votes; Polygon thinks the wider debate could cost Big Walk support elsewhere, but that is analysis, not a rule.
- For studios: the lesson House House itself draws is to have a written AI policy and disclose early, rather than after release.
- For the GTA 6 crowd: the same debate is behind the “last human-made game” posts about GTA 6 this week; Take-Two’s only on-record line is Zelnick’s “zero part” comment above.
FAQ
Did Big Walk use AI?
Yes, in a limited way. House House says it used LLM chatbots late in development to research and help fix technical bugs, and estimates well under 0.1% of the game’s code had anything to do with it. No generative AI was used for art, writing or other content, it says.
Why is Big Walk controversial?
Nineteen IGF jurors said they would not vote for games that used generative AI in any capacity, including code. House House then disclosed its limited use of chatbots, which split players and developers.
Is Big Walk banned from the IGF?
No ban has been announced. The jurors’ statement covers how those individual jurors will vote and says it does not speak for the IGF as an organisation.
Does Steam require AI disclosure?
Steam asks developers to disclose AI-generated content. House House says the platform does not request disclosure of code or chatbot usage, which is why Big Walk’s Steam page had none.
Who made Big Walk?
Big Walk is developed by House House, the Melbourne studio behind Untitled Goose Game, and published by Panic. It released on August 4, 2026.
Keep reading on HUDWire
Sources
- House House: Big Walk FAQ, AI disclosure
- The Verge: The indie game community is in disarray over AI and Big Walk
- Polygon: Big Walk’s AI controversy is a last-minute GOTY season twist (Nov 10, 2026)
- Shacknews: House House addresses AI tool usage in Big Walk’s final stretch of development
- GamesRadar+: Take-Two CEO says generative AI has “zero part” in what Rockstar is building
- Steam: Big Walk