The announcement trailer for Humankind 2 debuted during Gamescom Opening Night Live, presenting Amplitude Studios’ upcoming historical strategy game in a fast-moving journey through human history. Soon afterwards, viewers questioned whether some or all of the footage had been generated with artificial intelligence.
Amplitude Studios denied that and responded with a behind-the-scenes film showing how the announcement video was produced. The studio says no AI tools were used to generate any part of the trailer.
Released on 4 September, the 90-second production feature explains that the trailer combined real performers, animals, practical environments, costumes and props with computer-generated imagery and visual effects. Amplitude also published behind-the-scenes footage of the production of the announcement trailer.
Real sets, practical performances and visual effects
Humankind 2 is scheduled to launch in 2027. For the trailer, Amplitude worked with BETC, the creative agency involved with several trailers for the original Humankind. Filming took place on multiple practical sets, with each environment designed around a different historical era.
Every period used its own combination of clothing, objects, lighting and performances. Visual-effects studio LiveFX then expanded the filmed material with computer-generated elements, including tornadoes and explosions. The result was a production that mixed physical filmmaking with digital enhancement rather than AI-generated footage.
“Our ambition was to condense the breadth of human history into 73 seconds without losing its emotional weight,” said Benjamin Le Breton, Creative Director at BETC, in a press release.
Le Breton explained that the creative team wanted audiences to experience history instead of simply hearing a story about civilisations. The trailer follows the world from the viewpoint of a newborn, moving through nine eras while suggesting that every generation receives a legacy and can still change what comes next.
Why viewers suspected AI
The trailer’s unusual first-person camera movement and deliberately soft, slightly blurred presentation may have contributed to the reaction. Watching on a phone can also make small visual details harder to assess. Wider anxiety about AI-generated media, combined with the presence of games using generative AI at Gamescom, created an environment where an unconventional-looking trailer could quickly be labelled synthetic.
That reaction highlights a broader problem for the games industry. Visual oddities can invite suspicion, but an accusation is not proof. Treating every fuzzy, stiff or imperfect image as “AI slop” risks making genuine work harder to recognise while allowing genuinely careless content to escape meaningful scrutiny.
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