Australian studio House House released a public note explaining tiny LLM coding help late in *Big Walk*, per GamesIndustry.biz and Aftermath. The note follows a stand by 2027 Independent Games Festival (IGF) jurors refusing to vote for any game built with generative AI.
House House estimates well under 0.1% of *Big Walk*’s code came from edited chatbot tips. Zero AI touched art, audio, or scripts. One key fix changed 10 lines inside Unity URP after a Unity staffer told the team it wasn’t possible.
Executive Summary
- Under 0.1% Code: Less than 0.1% of Big Walk’s code drew from heavily rewritten chatbot hints, with zero AI art or writing.
- 10-Line Unity Fix: About 10 lines inside Unity URP stopped rendering unseen rear shadows, fixing a 50% speed drop at dawn and dusk.
- IGF Juror Boycott: Several 2027 IGF jurors pledged zero votes for any entry using AI in any form and asked for a ban.
- Steam Rules Gap: House House skipped Steam AI tags since Valve doesn’t ask developers to disclose chatbot code queries.
- Studio Apology: The studio called having no internal AI rulebook a failure and said its disclosure isn’t an endorsement.
Inside the 10-Line Unity URP Shadow Bug
Players picture synthetic voices or generated art when studios mention AI. House House hit a very different coding snag late in shipping.
Unity’s Universal Render Pipeline only culled shadows in front of the camera. Objects behind the player kept rendering at full range, cutting frame rates by 50% for 20 seconds at sunrise and sunset. After reading URP code and checking with a Unity engineer who saw no fix, the studio asked an LLM chatbot.
“After a few dead ends, it suggested a possible fix, and while we had to modify the suggestion extensively, it worked. This fix represented about 10 lines of code inside URP.”
Strict Festival Boycotts Meet Everyday Code Search
The IGF row highlights a tricky clash for small teams. Entries for the 2027 awards closed Sept. 13 ahead of January picks, and jurors saw a surge in AI-heavy games. In response, some jurors vowed to skip every game touching generative tools at all.
That hard line collides with daily programming work even at shops that hate AI art. Ten lines of shader math blur into standard bug hunting. Still, tensions over AI code keep rising, as seen when Decomp.dev closed over AI code floods and Goldman Sachs curbed coding bots.
Why Studios Need Clear AI Rules Before Crunch Time
House House didn’t brush off critics. The *Untitled Goose Game* team apologized, warned against treating chatbots as normal, and called lacking an internal AI policy a mistake.
Indie shops eyeing 2027 contests can’t leave coding habits to guesswork anymore. Setting plain team rules on debugging tools, art provenance, and contest forms early saves huge headaches over 10 lines of rendering code.
Disclosure Summary: Big Walk AI Coding Scope
Verified details shared by House House on Big Walk’s development:
| Item | Studio Fact | Industry Note |
|---|---|---|
| Code Share | Well under 0.1% of codebase | Rewritten snippets from research chats |
| Main Fix | ~10 lines inside Unity URP | Fixed 50% FPS drop during 20s dawn/dusk scenes |
| Art & Sound | 0% generative AI used | Limited solely to third-party code bug fixes |
| Steam Listing | Not flagged on Steam | Valve doesn’t require chatbot code disclosures |
| Award Impact | 2027 IGF juror boycott | Jurors urged strict anti-AI festival rules |
Frequently Asked Questions
Did House House use AI for art or story in Big Walk?
No. House House confirmed zero generative AI touched art, audio, or writing, only tiny rewritten debugging hints.
What bug did the chatbot suggestion help fix?
It pointed toward a heavily edited 10-line Unity URP fix to cull rear shadows, curing a 50% speed drop at dawn and dusk.
Why did House House publish the disclosure now?
It spoke out after 2027 IGF jurors said they wouldn’t vote for any game built with generative AI in any role.
Does Steam require reporting chatbot coding help?
No. House House noted Steam doesn’t ask teams to disclose chatbot code queries.
