Big Walk AI usage: House House admits LLM help after IGF jury stand
By Pooja MehraIndustry Trends Analyst, Peepals Tech
Representative image: Alltechbuzz_net / Pixabay
Big Walk maker House House says LLMs touched under 0.1% of its code, after 19 IGF jurors said on 9 November 2026 they won't back games made with generative AI.
What Happened
House House, the studio behind the co-operative walking game Big Walk, has said it used large language models (LLMs, the AI systems behind chatbots) "sparingly" in the final stretch of the game's development. The statement followed a declaration on Monday, 9 November 2026, by 19 jurors of the 2027 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards that they would not vote for games that used generative AI in development. The jurors did not name any game, but online discussion quickly pointed to Big Walk, and the studio published its account of its AI use within hours, as gaming news sites reported on 9 and 10 November.
Key Facts
- The jury statement, co-signed by 19 IGF jury members for the 2027 awards, cited a significant increase in submissions that involved generative AI, according to reports.
- One report says the statement was approved by IGF leadership.
- House House said LLMs were used sparingly to help work through difficult technical problems and bugs late in development.
- The studio estimates that well under 0.1% of Big Walk's code was touched by this work and says generative AI played no other role in making the game.
- The studio said it had not disclosed the use when it submitted the game to the IGF, and that the Steam store does not ask developers to disclose chatbot help with code.
- House House said the game was made without an internal AI-use policy, called that a failure, and said it will write a fuller policy.
- The studio apologised that its use might not meet the standards of people trying to limit the harm of generative AI, and said its statement is not an endorsement of AI tools.
Why It Matters
The row shows how quickly the line on AI is being drawn in creative industries, and how fine that line has become. Most public arguments about AI in games have been about art, voices and writing produced by machines. This case is about a much smaller thing: a programmer asking a chatbot for help with a stubborn bug. Some jurors, according to reports, say that still counts as generative AI use in development. Others in the industry see a difference between AI that makes the content players see and AI used as a debugging aid.
For awards bodies, the episode raises a practical problem. A rule that bars "any" use of generative AI is hard to check, because coding help leaves little trace in the finished game. Studios, in turn, now have a reason to keep written records of where and how AI tools were used, so they can answer questions before a jury or a store asks them. House House's own admission that it had no internal policy is likely to be quoted in many studios' planning meetings.
For India's fast-growing game-development community, which sells many of its games through the same global stores and enters the same international festivals, the message is that disclosure is becoming part of the job. Indian studios that use AI assistants in coding may want to know the rules of each festival they enter, since a jury's view can differ from a store's.
Peepals timeline: Jurors for the 2027 IGF Awards released their statement against voting for games that used generative AI on Monday, 9 November 2026. Within a few hours, according to reports, social media discussion named Big Walk as the game at the centre of the debate. House House then published its statement on the game's AI use, and gaming news sites carried the studio's account and the reaction on 9 and 10 November. Reports have not confirmed whether Big Walk remains in contention for the awards.
| Point | What the jurors said | What House House said |
|---|---|---|
| Use of AI | Will not vote for games that used generative AI in development | LLMs used sparingly, late in development, for bugs |
| Scale | Cited a big rise in AI-linked submissions | Well under 0.1% of the game's code touched |
| Disclosure | Not addressed for a named game | Not disclosed at submission; Steam does not ask about code help |
Impact
Short-term: Big Walk's standing in the 2027 IGF Awards is uncertain, and other entrants may face questions about their own use of AI tools. The festival's handling of the jurors' statement will be watched closely.
Long-term: Awards, stores and publishers may move towards written disclosure rules that separate AI-generated content from AI-assisted coding. Studios without an AI-use policy are likely to write one.
Who is affected: Independent game developers, including Indian studios that enter global festivals; festival juries and organisers; game stores that set disclosure rules; and players who want to know how the games they buy were made.
Key Takeaway
House House says chatbots touched well under 0.1% of Big Walk's code, but 19 IGF jurors' refusal to back games made with generative AI shows that even small, undisclosed uses now carry a cost.
Questions and Answers
Did Big Walk use AI?
According to its developer House House, yes, in a limited way: large language models were used sparingly late in development to help solve technical problems and bugs, touching well under 0.1% of the code. The studio says generative AI played no other role.
What did the IGF jurors say?
On 9 November 2026, 19 jurors for the 2027 Independent Games Festival Awards said they would not vote for games that used generative AI in development, citing a significant rise in such submissions. They did not name a game.
Why is coding help with AI controversial if players never see it?
Some jurors count any generative AI use during development, including coding help, while others separate AI-made content such as art or writing from AI used as a debugging aid. Because coding help leaves little trace, disclosure becomes the main issue.
What will House House change?
The studio said Big Walk was made without an internal AI-use policy, which it called a failure, and that it will work on a more comprehensive policy for the future.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Pooja Mehra, Industry Trends AnalystCovers Industry News & Trends and more for Peepals Tech. All stories by Pooja Mehra
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Pooja Mehra is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
