Games Workshop Bans AI From Its Creative Process - Here's What That Means For Creatives
Games Workshop, the maker of Warhammer, reported a record first-half with profit ahead of expectations - and confirmed it has a very cautious internal policy on AI. The company has banned AI from its creative pipeline.
That's a clear signal. Big brands are drawing hard lines to protect IP, process, and trust.
What a "no-AI" policy looks like in practice
- No AI-generated text, images, or audio in deliverables. Human-made assets only.
- Keep provenance: source files, sketches, drafts, and reference notes that show how the work was made.
- Disclose tools (plugins, upscalers, stock) and get approval for anything that automates content creation.
- Update contracts: warranties that work is human-made, no AI training usage, and clear client approvals for any exceptions.
Why this stance makes sense
Legal risk and brand integrity. Many models are trained on copyrighted material; enterprises don't want that in their supply chain. Consistency and authorship matter as much as speed - and the market is rewarding it.
If you want the official line from the source, check the company's investor updates for context on policy and performance: Games Workshop Investor Relations.
How to adapt without losing your creative edge
- Split your workflows: AI-free for clients that require it; AI-assisted for personal R&D. Label each project clearly.
- Show your process: post sketches, timelapses, drafts. Make the human hand obvious.
- Use provenance standards like Content Credentials to certify origins: C2PA.
- Create a one-paragraph AI disclosure you can paste into proposals and SOWs.
- If AI is allowed for research or moodboards, set guardrails: no model training on client data, human review, and final assets created manually.
Practical next steps for teams
- Write a studio AI policy that fits your clients: what's allowed, what's banned, who approves exceptions.
- Audit your portfolio and remove any AI-generated work from AI-free case studies.
- Add provenance checkpoints to your QA: keep PSDs/RAWs, save iterations, log tool versions.
- Train your team on compliant workflows so everyone operates the same way. If you need structured learning, see role-based options here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
Bottom line
Clients set the rules. Your advantage is craft, clarity, and proof of authorship. Make work that doesn't need a disclaimer - and when AI is off-limits, your process should make that obvious.
Your membership also unlocks:
