At last week's Game Awards ceremony, developer SuperAuthenti debuted a teaser for its in-development open-world adventure cat game Catly, a video that was short on gameplay details and long on exceptionally cute cats with oversized, colorful eyes. After the trailer debuted, viewers—many of them game developers—began speculating that the game or the trailer are using generative AI technology.
As internet sleuths dug through the business profiles of SuperAuthenti and its executives, some began to wonder if the game might also use blockchain technology.
The company (like a cat) played coy at first, first telling Digital Trends it would share more details on the game in 2025. That seems to have changed. Today, a SuperAuthenti PR spokesperson told Game Developer that there is no generative AI in Catly or its teaser. Additionally, they said Catly is "not a blockchain game," and there are no non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other blockchain currency affiliated with the product.
"We did not use generative AI to produce the video and the game," the spokesperson said. "In fact we are very surprised by such speculation. We do not think there are any existing AI tools that could produce a video like that. Industry experts have echoed this opinion."
SuperAuthenti shared a work-in-progress video of the Catly trailer with Game Developer, which contained a number of before-and-after shots showing the pre-rendered kitties bouncing around their playroom. The cat's models did not appear to contain telltale signs of generated 3D models (no unusual symmetry, no melded limbs, and no baked-in textures), and the environment also appeared to be created with traditional 3D animation. Some shots featured the cats rendered with full fur, others showed models implemented before fur animations were added.
The cat models did appear to have been fully mapped and rigged before these clips were captured, but it otherwise didn't seem that different from other behind-the-scenes clips of CG animation.
As spotted by Digital Trends, Speculation over Catly's possible use of blockchain tech was based on a possible connection to blockchain game developer TenthPlanet. TenthPlanet was "started" by William Wei Chen and colleague Kevin Yeung. Yeung is registered as the founder of SuperAuthenti. Animation and VFX news outlet 80 Level stated it reviewed documents saying SuperAuthenti is the sole shareholder of Shanghai Binmao Technology, which previously developed a blockchain-based "botanical and gardening experience."
SuperAuthenti's spokesperson did not address these business connections, but did push back on the idea that Catly uses any blockchain technology. "Catly is not a blockchain game," the spokesperson said. "There are no NFTs. Our company/project has never issued any blockchain currency and any NFTs. Our company does not and has never owned any blockchain currency and NFTs."
The spokesperson said that SuperAuthenti is "excited to reveal more about the game," and its own background in 2025.
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