Nexon Issues Apology After Being Accused Of Using Streamer’s Face Without Permission In AI-Generated TikTok Ads For ‘The First Descendant’
Nexon has apologized due to recent adverts for The First Descendant on TikTok. Beyond the backlash for using AI, they appear to have also used a streamer’s likeness without permission.
As shown in a Reddit thread by iHardlyTriHard, the TikTok ads appear to show AI-generated streamers. 3D characters intended to look like real people — complete with an AI generated voice and AI dialogue that doesn’t fit them — plays and/or discusses PR talking points about The First Descendant, while gameplay and trailer footage are shown underneath.
iHardlyTriHard expressed concern over the future of the game if Nexon utilized such poor-quality ads. While ads using AI aren’t new to the platform, the user claims, “In the 1st AI ad they use a real streamer’s likeness by using AI img2vid, and I believe they have done this without their consent.”
“They even went as far as to attempt to clone his voice, albeit very poorly judging from the comparisons I have heard from his original videos.” Believing that the ads featured “entirely AI generated people,” iHardlyTriHard went on to suggest that these were likely official; despite not appearing on the game’s official TikTok account.
“Finally, the worst part of this all is that whoever is in control of the Official TFD TikTok accounts is aware of the backlash against the AI ads and has gone out of their way to ignore and hide it. They have been deleting and reuploading the AI videos whenever they get too much backlash in the comments,” iHardlyTriHard insisted.
Other Redditors also corroborated the claims about comments and videos being deleted.
“When I went searching for the videos to grab for this all of them were posted within the last 2 days, however I know for certain that they have been in circulation for far longer (one of them is an ad for the S3 Demo even which was weeks ago) and they used to have far more comments on them calling them out on the use of AI.”
“The original comments were also how I found out that they were stealing the 1st streamer’s likeness to use for that ad,” iHardlyTriHard explained. The streamer in question appears to be DanieltheDemon. At this time of writing he has issued no statement on the ad.
Nexon gave a statement two days later, via The First Descendant‘s official X account. “Greetings, Descendants. We would like to inform you of certain irregularities identified in the operation of our TikTok Creative Challenge for creators.”
“As a part of our marketing campaign for Season 3: Breakthrough, we recently ran a Creative Challenge program for TikTok creators, which allows creators to voluntarily submit their content to be used as advertising materials,” Nexon elaborates.
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“All submitted videos are verified through TikTok’s system to check copyright violations before they are approved as advertising content.”
“However, we have become aware of cases where the circumstances surrounding the production of certain submitted videos appear inappropriate,” Nexon admitted. “Thus, we are conducting a thorough joint investigation with TikTok to determine the facts.”
“We sincerely apologize for the delay in providing this notice as the review is taking longer than expected. Once the verification is complete, we will promptly share an update through an official notice. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” Nexon concluded.
That Creative Challenge program allows TikTok content creators- that successfully audition- to create ads for brands and earn revenue from it. Testimonials from content creators on TikTok’s website boast about being able to work from home and earning “five figures.”
The five figure question now is how TikTok verify their Creative Challenge content. How do they verify the person in the video is the one submitting it? How much do brands know about the ads they get out of the program? And does the process change when AI-generated work is submitted?
