Does Anime Shop Simulator Use AI? What Can Be Checked

The short answer

We can’t tell you how every asset was made, and neither can anyone else outside the studio. What we can do is list what can be checked:

Since January 2024, Steam’s rules ask developers to disclose AI-generated content in the game or on the store page, and the answer appears on the store page. Anime Shop Simulator’s page has no such section. That is the developer’s declaration, not an independent audit.

Why people are asking

A launch-week Steam forum thread titled “AI?” reached more than 60 replies. The original poster gave three reasons for suspecting AI:

• Emoji in the game’s title (“Anime Shop Simulator ✨”) and throughout the store description.
• A store description they felt read like AI-written text.
• Posters in the released game that have different art and names from the trailer and screenshots.

Replies pushed back on each point. Posters and names changing between beta and release is normal, and the July 16 post says the whole game’s art was redone. Some pointed to the studio’s earlier Tavern Manager Simulator as evidence of a small team doing its own work. Others said the absence of a disclosure is exactly why they want a clear answer. One player said a disclosure would make them comfortable overlooking AI use in a small indie game.

What we don’t know

• Whether any in-game textures, posters or card art were AI-assisted. The disclosure covers what the developer declares, and we have no way to inspect the source files.
• Whether the store description was written with AI help. Writing style is not evidence.

We won’t label the game as AI-made or AI-free beyond what the checks above show. If the developer adds a disclosure or makes a statement, we will update this page with the date.

If it affects whether you buy

The same four items are what you can check yourself: the store page’s disclosure section, the credits in the developer’s posts, the art-change timeline in the July 16 and 23 posts, and the forum thread. What players who bought it think of the game itself is on the reviews page.