Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots Clarifies Its Use of AI-Generated Textures

13 July 2025
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6 min.
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Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots Clarifies Its Use of AI-Generated Textures

Summary:

Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots tees off later this year with more characters, modes, and charm than any entry before it—and with a footnote that has sparked lively debate. A mandatory note on its Steam page confirms that tree and leaf textures were produced with generative AI, then revised by the art team. This revelation has split fans: some shrug, others worry about authenticity and ethics. We look at why the studio chose this route, how Steam’s policies forced transparency, and what it means for visuals, performance, and the wider discussion around AI in games. Along the way, we revisit the series’ laid-back legacy, unpack the technical side of texture generation, and weigh community feedback to see whether the fairway is still as welcoming as ever.

The Everybody’s Golf Series Makes a Comeback

After eight years in the bunker, Everybody’s Golf swings back onto the green under the unified name “Hot Shots.” The new installment packs 25+ playable golfers, 10 global courses, and the series’ beloved three-button swing mechanic. Long-time fans liken the announcement to spotting a familiar flagstick on the horizon: comforting, yet promising fresh challenges.
HYDE Inc. and Bandai Namco pitch the release as a celebration of arcade-style golfing—easy to learn, tricky to master, and packed with playful crossover cameos (yes, PAC-MAN made the roster this time). Set for September 5 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, Hot Shots aims to keep solo grinders and couch foursomes busy for months with Challenge Mode tournaments, World Tour antics, and the brand-new Wacky Golf rule-set. In short, there’s plenty to lure back veterans and tempt newcomers who might never have shouted “nice in!” at their TV.

Steam’s AI Disclosure Sets the Stage

Valve’s storefront now demands absolute clarity when AI helps shape a game’s art or code. Scroll down Hot Shots’ page and you’ll spot an “AI Generated Content Disclosure” box that spells it out: some textures—specifically trees and leaves—were born from generative models, then polished by artists. The wording isn’t a vague shrug. It points to the precise assets and assures players that humans had final say.
Why does this matter? Because Steam’s transparency rule flips the spotlight onto practices that, only a year ago, many studios quietly adopted. With one line of text, the devs sparked forum threads, social posts, and think-pieces dissecting whether AI helps or harms artistry. If disclosure is a window, Hot Shots’ team just lifted the blinds wide open.

What Exactly Was Generated?

The studio didn’t feed entire fairways into an algorithm; it targeted foliage. Trees, shrubs, and ground-cover textures soak up dev hours like sand traps swallow stray balls. By letting a model spit out high-resolution bark patterns and leaf clusters, artists skipped the blank-canvas stage and jumped straight to tweaking hue, contrast, and tiling. Think of it as ordering a rough-cut club from a factory, then hand-grinding the grooves until it feels custom.
Importantly, character models, UI art, and skyboxes remain traditionally produced. The AI role stayed narrow and, according to HYDE, under tight human supervision.

Valve’s Rulebook at a Glance

Steam’s policy requires disclosures for any AI content that ships in a game—no matter how tiny. Developers must outline what was generated and confirm they hold rights. Skip the step and risk delisting. That carrot-and-stick approach encourages honesty while giving shoppers full visibility.

Why Focus on Trees and Leaves?

Foliage may sound trivial, yet it frames every tee shot. Crisp bark grains sell depth; realistic canopy tiling sells scale. In earlier entries, critics noticed repeated texture seams underfoot, a small distraction that chips at immersion. Generative AI offers near-endless variations, reducing obvious repetition without ballooning production costs. It’s the digital equivalent of planting thousands of unique saplings instead of cloning a single plastic fern across the course. Still, some players argue that a handmade touch, even if less varied, feels more authentic.

How Generative AI Fits Into the Pipeline

Picture the art pipeline as a clubhouse kitchen. Chefs (artists) once peeled every potato (base texture) by hand. Now, a machine slices spuds into neat discs, freeing chefs to season and plate. In Hot Shots, the generator outputs a 4K bark pattern; artists then adjust color grading, remove artifacts, and compress the file for the engine. The workflow shortens grunt work but doesn’t replace human taste. Ironically, many AAA studios already rely on photogrammetry and procedural tools like SpeedTree—AI just changes the recipe, not the meal’s purpose.

Developer Oversight and Human Revision

HYDE insists that every AI-generated asset passed through a review checklist: legal clearance, stylistic match, and performance testing. If a tree’s specular map popped too shiny or a leaf edge looked melted, artists repainted it. The company likens the process to scouting stock photography—useful starting point, never final form. They also stress that no training data came from copyrighted art outside licensed datasets. Whether that assurance satisfies skeptics remains an open question, yet it shows the studio wants to walk the fairway, not the rough.

Community Response: Cheers, Jeers, and Questions

The reveal drew a spectrum of reactions. Some golfers waved it off, arguing that procedurally-generated trees have lived in sports games for decades. Others saw it as a slippery slope, fearing a future where entire character designs spill from an algorithm’s mind with minimal human input. Social threads filled with playful puns—“Is that bark plagiarized?”—alongside earnest concerns about artists’ livelihoods.
Interestingly, a subset of modders expressed optimism: AI-generated textures might open doors for fan-made reskins, provided tools remain accessible. On the flip side, preservationists worry about version control: if an update swaps in new AI foliage, how do future historians capture the original look? It’s a debate as sprawling as a par-five hole.

Ethical Considerations Beyond One Golf Course

Generative AI raises thorny questions about sourcing. Did the training data scrub copyrighted photography? Are artists credited? Hot Shots’ disclosure doesn’t dig that far, but its existence nudges players to probe. Ethicists argue that visible bark might mask invisible labor issues, much like a perfect green can hide hours of unpaid groundskeeping. The conversation stretches beyond golf, tapping into a wider movement for transparency in creative tech.

Visual Consistency and Performance Implications

From a technical standpoint, AI-generated textures can either smooth or disrupt artistic cohesion. Early screenshots show tree bark that matches character shading, suggesting a successful style blend. On performance, smaller texture libraries lighten load times, but ultra-high-res outputs can bloat memory if left unoptimized. HYDE says its assets were compressed to meet a steady 60 FPS at 1080p on mid-range GPUs. Players will judge the real-world result once the game lands, but initial benchmarks look par for the course.

The Road Ahead for Everybody’s Golf and the Genre

If Hot Shots sticks the landing, we might see more sports titles adopt targeted AI pipelines—crowd sprites, grass blades, even ambient sound loops. Yet the backlash shows that disclosure must ride shotgun. In the same way golfers call penalties on themselves, studios that volunteer details will likely earn trust. For Everybody’s Golf, the challenge is clear: deliver the breezy fun fans crave while proving that a dash of machine assistance can coexist with human creativity. The first swing is already in motion; the gallery will decide whether it’s a hole-in-one or a water hazard.

Conclusion

Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots demonstrates that generative AI can be a sand-wedge rather than a wrecking ball—handy for precise shots, dangerous if mis-handled. By spotlighting its foliage workflow, the studio gives players information they need to form opinions without hiding behind marketing gloss. Whether you celebrate the return of light-hearted golf or side-eye the tech that seeded its trees, the conversation tees up bigger questions about where games are headed next. One thing’s certain: transparency now shares the leaderboard with gameplay and graphics.

FAQs
  • Does the entire game use AI-generated art?
    • No. Only certain tree and leaf textures were created with generative AI and later revised by artists.
  • Will AI textures affect performance?
    • The studio claims optimized compression keeps frame rates steady on mid-range systems.
  • Why disclose AI usage at all?
    • Steam’s policy requires developers to state any AI-generated content and specify the assets involved.
  • Are characters like PAC-MAN made with AI?
    • No. Character models and animations follow traditional workflows.
  • Could future updates replace AI textures?
    • Possibly. The team may tweak assets post-launch, but any additional AI content would need fresh disclosure.
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