Is Graveyard Keeper 2 Using AI? The Timeline and Both Sides

The short version: there are accusations, there is a denial, and there is still no third-party verification.

Shortly after the game was announced on 9 April 2026, players raised two things: the promo key art looked AI-generated, and the trailer’s voice work might be AI.

The trigger was Lazy Bear co-founder and CTO Slava Cherkasov, who talks about AI openly on X and has posted AI-generated images.

He later denied it directly on Reddit: “You may not believe me, but we’re not using the AI in Graveyard Keeper 2”.

As of 15 September 2026, there is still no independent technical verification either way.

Timeline

Date	What happened	What was new	Source
2026-04-09	Game announced, original free for a limited time	“No sequel” became “there is a sequel”	Official Steam post
2026-04-10	A voice-acting complaint thread appears on Steam	Players start pushing back on the trailer’s voices	Steam discussion
2026-04-11	PC Gamer publishes the developer’s full denial	The dispute moves from social media to games press	PC Gamer
2026-04-12 to 04-13	Non-English outlets follow	It spreads beyond the English-speaking community	jeu.video, ixbt.games
2026-09-14	Demo launches; players again flag “AI-looking” pixel cutscenes	The claim widens from key art to cutscenes	Reddit, Steam discussions
2026-09-15	The store page still has no AI content disclosure	The dispute stays unresolved	Steam store page

What the developer said

Cherkasov’s Reddit reply, as quoted by press:

You may not believe me, but we’re not using the AI in Graveyard Keeper 2. Yes, I’m experimenting with every AI model I can find. This is what every tech guy should do now.

I’m constantly creating some small experimental projects that are not shared with the audience and have nothing to do with Graveyard Keeper.

I’m not doing the art—we have about 8 artists for that. I’m not doing sound or music either. I’m just a tech guy that is experimenting with the tech to understand what it can do.

One qualification has to stay attached. PC Gamer notes that the Reddit account was never officially tied to Cherkasov; Lazy Bear’s own posts had referred to him by the username soulburner_spb.

What the accusations actually claim

Two separate threads.

The key art. Player RottenRailing wrote: “The promo art looks very much like generative AI, and is an immediate turn-off. The OG art was charming, and certainly more unique!” Another player started a thread naming Cherkasov’s X posts, calling it “the elephant in the room”.

Quoted X posts include “Hordes of AI haters hate full lips and makeup and everything AI” and “Image creation by ChatGPT is fun”.

The voice work. In the 10 April 2026 Steam thread, players called the trailer’s acting “cheap and jarring”, and some speculated outright that it was AI-generated, given the co-founder’s enthusiasm for generative tools.

In the same thread, a player relayed that a developer had said on Discord that players could switch between English voice-over and the original mumbles. That relayed claim matches the reviews and the demo build, but the relay itself is not backed by an official page.

What is confirmed and what is not

Claim	Status	Basis
The full game has complete English voice acting	Confirmed	Reviews say “now fully voice-acted”; the demo settings include a voiceover option
Voice-over can be switched back to the original mumbles	Confirmed	Reviews and demo gameplay agree
The developers publicly denied using AI	Confirmed	The Reddit reply quoted by PC Gamer
The team has about eight artists	Developer statement	Same source, no third-party check
Steam has an AI content disclosure for this game	No	Scraped the store page HTML on 15 September 2026; zero keyword hits
A full art and voice-credits list	Never published	This is the root reason the dispute cannot settle
Whether AI was actually used	Neither proven nor disproven	No independent technical audit exists

How to check it yourself

Four channels:

Read Cherkasov’s full quotes in the PC Gamer report of 11 April 2026.
Read the two main AI threads on r/GraveyardKeeper, comments included.
Open the Steam store page and look for an AI content disclosure block.
After launch, check the in-game credits and the voice-over settings.

What to watch after launch

Whether the in-game credits list art and voice staff.
Whether the pixel cutscenes flagged as “AI-looking” were replaced in the full release.
Whether the official Discord or Steam news hub adds any statement.

How the community split (sampling note)

Community opinion is not uniform, and this sample does not represent all players.

The top-voted comment on the main Reddit thread supports the developer: “I’m pretty good at spotting AI and nothing about the trailer or art made me believe AI was being used. Folks are so quick to jump and assume.”

Another comment with 42 upvotes reads: “I’ll stay cautious, all the crap happening recently Has made me paranoid about this stuff”. Others asked for “a VO list, I want an artist list”.

Sources

PC Gamer report (11 April 2026): https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/graveyard-keeper-devs-respond-as-players-make-ai-accusations-you-may-not-believe-me-but-were-not-using-the-ai-in-graveyard-keeper-2/
ixbt.games report (13 April 2026): https://ixbt.games/en/news/2026/04/13/aktivisty-zapisali-graveyard-keeper-2-v-neiroslop-i-nacali-otmeniat-razrabotciki-otreagirovali-na-kritiku.html
jeu.video analysis (12 April 2026): https://jeu.video/en/article/graveyard-keeper-2-ai-controversy
Reddit thread “About AI in GK2”: https://www.reddit.com/r/GraveyardKeeper/comments/1sigife/about_ai_in_gk2/
Steam discussion on voice acting: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4358690/discussions/0/800092645914430094/
DualShockers review (14 September 2026, voice-acting facts): https://www.dualshockers.com/graveyard-keeper-2-review/