Patrice Désilets' long-awaited game 1666: Amsterdam launched a prologue demo following its announcement at Summer Game Fest 2026. The release prompted immediate controversy over the use of generative AI in its art and marketing.
The project, in development for over 13 years, was announced to enter early access later this year with the playable prologue available now. Panache Digital, the studio founded by the Assassin's Creed creator, issued an apology after players identified signs of AI-generated assets.
"We own up to this oversight and apologise for any upset caused," the studio said. It confirmed that the early access version and full game will contain no AI-generated assets.
The demo spans three time periods and follows characters including a witch named Noa in 1666. It received a mixed reception on Steam, leaving players uncertain about the final game's structure as a third-person story-led action-adventure.
Désilets previously described the title as a game about being worse than the devil, though the demo focuses on rituals and timeline shifts without combat.
