MTG and D&D artist Dave Rapoza quits amid Wizards AI controversy

The prominent artist for Wizards of the Coast has declared their intent to never work for the company again thanks to their shady stance on AI art.

Once again, controversies surrounding AI have engulfed Wizards of the Coast. The Magic: The Gathering and D&D communities have been rocked with regular allegations of AI art in official Wizards products, from sourcebooks to advertisements.

Now, allegations of Wizards using AI-generated art have once again surfaced, and the issue has escalated to the point that prominent MTG and D&D artist Dave Rapoza has quit working with Wizards over the issue.

Dave Rapoza signals that he is done working for Wizards of the Coast

Dave Rapoza

The background art for a recent Ravnica Remastered advertisement was found to be AI-generated, and this latest usage by Wizards – flying in the face of the company’s staunch denial of AI involvement – proved to be the last straw for Rapoza.

On Twitter, Rapoza made his intentions clear, stating ‘I’m done working for Wizards of the Coast – you can’t say you stand against this then blatantly use AI to promote your products.’

Fans of Rapoza were quick to announce their support for the artist. Reddit user Pvs_Vale stated:

“I followed his drawings before I even played Magic! Really sad about this but he’s absolutely right about his decision.”

Rapoza stands against Wizards’ hypocrisy

While fans and creators have taken more of a lenient stance towards AI art used solely for promotional purposes. Its use in the Ravnica Remastered advert may not have been as big of a deal if the company hadn’t refused to admit that the art had come from an AI source.

What makes matters worse here is that Wizards has come out strongly against the use of AI art in its future products. Following previous incidents with releases such as Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, Wizards has stuck to its own stance against AI art.

As explained by Reddit user MasterofKami:

“They’re using AI backgrounds whilst denying that they were.

“If they’re already breaking their promise then it’s not out of the realm of possibility they’ll be using AI to make card ‘art’ in the near future.”

It’s one thing for the company to be unaware of the content going into its releases, but rallying against AI-generated art only to continue to use it promotionally without admitting so is a slap in the face to the honest contributing artists of MTG and D&D.

The increasing use of AI-automated processes remains an ethical minefield, with artists rightly taking a stand against their jobs being replaced by soulless regurgitations. Hopefully, the high-profile debacles from Wizards will discourage other companies from making similar mistakes, and provide further ammunition for artists and creators fighting for their livelihoods.