Postal: Bullet Paradise is officially dead. Explosive accusations of using AI-generated assets allegations the developers strongly deny led to the cancellation of the spinoff shooter once slated for a 2026 launch. In the fallout, the entire studio behind the game, Goonswarm Games, has shut its doors.
Community backlash derails Postal: Bullet Paradise
Revealed as a chaotic, roguelike first-person shooter with Vampire Survivors DNA, Postal: Bullet Paradise aimed to mix timeline-hopping mayhem with the franchise’s trademark dark humor. But within days of its reveal, the Postal community turned on it.
Fans dissected the reveal trailer and pointed to telltale signs of AI art: pixel artifacts, bizarre facial animations, and inconsistent lighting. Some even linked the visual style to earlier Goonswarm trailers, fueling suspicions.
Goonswarm denies AI use, but the damage was done
Goonswarm Games issued a public response denying the use of generative AI:
“No generative AI was used… All assets were created by our human artist using standard tools,” the studio told PCGamesN. They backed their claims with PSDs and in-progress files, but it wasn’t enough.
Running With Scissors, the publisher and creator of the Postal franchise, had outsourced development to Goonswarm. But as CEO Vince Desi explained, the backlash was immediate and intense:
“Our trust in the development team is broken, therefore we’ve killed the project.”
How the fallout unfolded
- Fans accused the game of using AI-generated assets
- Goonswarm denied it and provided layered files
- Backlash intensified online, including threats and insults
- Running With Scissors canceled the game, citing brand damage
- Goonswarm Games shut down entirely
Studio closure marks a grim turning point
After days of trying to defend its work, Goonswarm issued a final statement on X:
“We’ve shut down the studio… Every attempt to clarify our work only escalated the situation.” The team cited a flood of threats and harassment as the tipping point.
Postal: Bullet Paradise has since vanished from storefronts, its YouTube trailer made private, and its Steam page pulled. It was originally priced at $19.99, with a planned release across PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Linux.
Postal franchise scorched by AI controversy fallout
The saga leaves both studios scorched. For Postal, a brand built on controversy, this wasn’t the kind it could afford. Whether or not Goonswarm used AI, the perception alone was enough to sink the ship and shutter a studio in the process.
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