Paolo Pedercini removes AI voices from Future? No Thanks!, offers refunds

Paolo Molleindustria Pedercini updated Future? No Thanks! on PC via Steam on Oct. 23, 2026, removing the game’s AI-generated voices and paying refunds through PayPal and Venmo to players who say they still feel betrayed.

The urgent audio and balance patch deletes two text-to-speech voice lines attached to robot characters, one for an automated toilet and one for an automated hair-salon translator. ROCKSTARmedia described the update as an urgent balance and audio patch for the PC Steam release of the eco-satire about ecological collapse and technocratic automation. The game sells only on PC through Steam, not on Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5.

Pedercini said text-to-speech, software that creates spoken audio from text, now counts as user-facing AI-generated content and that the lines caused annoyances and bad optics, leading him to remove them. He originally added the voices as a spoof of the technology, and he now believes the game is worse by about 0.001%.

Pedercini disclosed the use of generative AI, tools that create text, audio, images or code, in a blog post earlier in the week of Oct. 23, 2026, then removed the voices after angry reactions on social media and press coverage. He said he had repeated versions of his disclosure statement whenever festivals and events asked, and he called the post defeatist and hastily written, adding that he thought nobody would read it. He deleted a paragraph criticizing colleagues who avoid AI after publication, but not before someone screengrabbed and shared it.

Pedercini is bypassing Steam’s two-hour automated refund window by paying players directly through PayPal and Venmo. Players who passed that two-hour limit can still receive direct refunds if they say they felt betrayed by the generative text-to-speech assets.

The update also raised payouts from miscellaneous side gigs, giving players more money and preventing quest soft-locks. Pedercini said removing the audio files does not change system performance or install footprints on Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, or ASUS ROG Ally. Portable play requires handheld PC hardware such as Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, or AYANEO devices using Proton.

Beyond the voices, Pedercini said he used ChatGPT and Claude to debug a small fraction of the code and Suno to generate two music loops, which he described as a joke about people who listen to slop in early demos. He has also called AI a technofascist, anti-human, and anti-art project.

Pedercini said his next game will be “completely hand-coded”. He said, “all the studios that have not made a public statement against all generative AI are using it for coding in some capacity.” He also guessed the episode would not encourage more voluntary disclosures.

Valve updated Steam’s publishing rules in January to permit efficiency tools including coding assistants without requiring customer-facing disclosure for AI coding help. Steam’s rules also allow pre-rendered generative-AI assets and live runtime generation when developers disclose them during backend submission. Pedercini said colleagues frequently deploy background coding help silently because Valve’s technical disclosure threshold is lenient, creating a vacuum where silence earns praise and transparency earns crucifixion. He said his conclusion rests on anecdotes and conversations with other developers, not a survey.

“In my opinion the game is worse now, but only, like, 0.001% worse,” Pedercini said. BozokMedia said the gaming community now treats AI as a breach of trust between creator and consumer rather than as a tool. Pedercini promoted developers who swore off generative AI and urged players to support human-made art over AI slop, and he said SteamFest is drowning in actual slop.

Future? No Thanks! launched in September and follows an old man finishing a bucket list before assisted suicide in a future tackling climate change. Pedercini is known for unsubtle political browser games, including titles about booing at the Confederate flag, exploring Soviet workers’ clubs, and running The New York Times while aiming to sate Israel and the rich.

Malaysian buyers pay roughly RM45 to RM68 through Valve’s Ringgit-denominated storefront without import tax, according to an estimate by ROCKSTARmedia, which used roughly $1.00 USD to RM4.50 in its conversion. Play-Asia lists no physical boxed editions for Switch, PS5, or Xbox Series X/S, and with no physical availability, collectors must rely entirely on local digital PC backup protocols.