Mundfish Rejects Generative AI for Atomic Heart 2, The Cube Development

The studio behind Atomic Heart has drawn a clear line in the sand regarding artificial intelligence. Mundfish, the developer responsible for the retrofuturistic shooter franchise, announced it will not integrate generative AI tools into its daily production pipelines for Atomic Heart 2 or the upcoming MMO The Cube.

The decision comes from an interview with WCCFTech, where CEO and Atomic Heart director Robert Bagratuni addressed the controversial topic directly. The studio conducted extensive internal research to evaluate AI's potential for their workflows, but ultimately chose against adoption.

"We understand that neural networks and AI can significantly simplify the pre-production phase of projects, helping to iterate ideas faster and reduce overall development time," Bagratuni stated. "Because of this, we conducted extensive internal research to evaluate their potential for our workflows. However, at this moment, we have decided not to integrate them into our daily production pipelines."

This isn't a blanket rejection of the technology. Mundfish is actively monitoring AI evolution and hasn't ruled out future adoption. The studio's position reflects a calculated risk assessment rather than ideological opposition. They acknowledge AI as a tool that should serve creative people, not replace them.

The announcement surfaced through GamingBolt, which reported on the WCCFTech interview. Mundfish's stance is particularly notable given the industry's rapid AI integration. Many competitors have already embedded generative tools into concept art, dialogue generation, and asset creation pipelines.

Bagratuni emphasized maintaining balance between technology and human creativity. "We strongly believe in maintaining a balance between technology and human creativity. And despite the obvious advantages of AI, we are confident that our team can achieve massive success without relying on it daily."

The studio's confidence stems from Atomic Heart's commercial performance. The game surpassed 10 million players worldwide, establishing the franchise as a recognized industry name. This success gave Mundfish leverage to make decisions based on creative philosophy rather than market pressure.

Atomic Heart 2 was officially announced in June 2025 and confirmed for PC and consoles. The sequel uses Unreal Engine 5 and features expanded RPG mechanics with deeper skill trees. Bagratuni described these systems as being "integrated into the world and the experience," rather than simply layered on for complexity.

The Cube represents a different challenge entirely. As an MMO shooter set in the same universe, it requires sustained content creation and live service management. Mundfish hasn't revealed extensive details beyond narrative hints from the Blood on Crystal DLC, which serves as a bridge to both upcoming projects.

Community reaction has been mixed. Some players appreciate the commitment to human-made content, while others worry about development timelines. The Blood on Crystal DLC itself sparked debate when in-game posters appeared to use AI-generated artwork, creating tension between the studio's stated principles and actual implementation.

Bagratuni addressed this tension by framing AI as an instrument rather than a replacement. "After all, AI is just a tool – it can never replace the genuine work of creative people, but should rather serve as an instrument in their hands."

The decision impacts Mundfish's production capacity. Without AI acceleration, development cycles may extend longer than competitors using generative tools. This could mean delayed releases or smaller content volumes, though the studio hasn't committed to specific timelines.

Atomic Heart 2 development is described as "completely different" from the first game. The studio shifted its production approach significantly, handling the process in a new way. They want to experiment with new ideas and improve aspects they couldn't fully realize in the original, such as open world liveliness and RPG depth.

For now, Mundfish continues working on DLC#4, The Cube, and Atomic Heart 2 in parallel. Bagratuni noted it will take "a few more years to craft something that is richer, even crazier and delivers a truly next-level experience."

The studio's position reflects broader industry tensions. As AI tools become cheaper and more accessible, the cost of refusing them increases. Mundfish is betting that human creativity remains a competitive advantage worth the additional time and expense.

Whether players actually value this distinction enough to wait longer for releases remains the real question.

Artūras Malašauskas is an AI Systems Integrator with 20+ years of production-grade web engineering experience. He has designed, shipped, and scaled enterprise Python/PHP systems for logistics, SaaS, and public-sector clients. For the past year, he has focused exclusively on AI integrations: deploying open-source LLMs, building generative media pipelines (image, audio, video), and engineering multi-agent workflows for real production environments. His standard: reproducibility, security, cost-efficient inference—no vaporware. He documents and evaluates emerging AI tooling, separating verified capabilities from marketing noise. Technical editor at: muza-ai.eu, ai-verslas.lt, ai-naujinos.lt Connect on LinkedIn