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Indie Dev to Delist AI-Assisted Roguelike 'Hardest' From Steam on Jan. 30

The developer says generative tools impose economic and environmental costs that make the release ethically unacceptable.

Overview

  • Developer Eero Laine, known as Rakuel, announced the removal in a Jan. 10 Steam post titled "AI is bad, game will be deleted 30.1."
  • Laine cited AI’s economic and environmental harms and warned the game’s existence could be used to justify investment in AI companies.
  • He credited a recent relationship for prompting the reassessment and said he may revisit the project with non-AI assets.
  • Hardest includes AI-generated art and music, carries an AI-assets disclosure on Steam, and is a free-to-play rock-paper-scissors card-game roguelike released in July 2025.
  • The game remains available to download until Jan. 30, and players who add it before delisting will retain it in their libraries.