Google’s new AI model caused a panic sell in game stocks, and Nintendo and Take2 are already on the takedown train

In the grim darkness of 2026, the AI hostile takeover is almost upon us. Google’s new experimental model, Project Genie, can produce interactable and explorable 3D environments, presaging the emergence of fully-generated AI video games. Investors immediately started salivating, panicked, and sold tons of shares in Western gaming companies, causing a mini-crash before markets closed on Friday.

Google released its new experimental generative AI model called Project Genie, built to produce fully interactable and explorable 3D environments from a single prompt or source image. Though still rather limited in function (you can just move around, and collision is basically non-existent), it’s an impressive technological leap for artificial intelligence, which is now one step closer to creating fully-generated 3D worlds without anyone actually having to develop them.

It’s the antecedent of a far worse hellscape, one where all the content we consume is made by AI and little to no human intervention. At least that’s what investors seem to think, prompting them to panic-sell a ton of their stocks in Western gaming corporations, with this mini-crash particularly impacting Unity, which makes video game engines.

Unity Software Inc. dropped a whopping 24 percent since yesterday before market closure, while GTA-backed giant Take-Two Interactive shed around eight percent in value within the same timeframe. CD Projekt Red, the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, also lost eight percent of its stock value.

Japanese companies, as wccftech writes, weren’t impacted likely due to their regional market being closed at the time Google made its new technology public.

Market closure didn’t stop Nintendo from acting proactively, though. As soon as it could, it went on a massive takedown spree, removing any and all Genie-generated content that had its IPs contained within. One video showed Link gliding through a 3D world taken from Breath of the Wild, and Nintendo didn’t wait long to strike it down.

Naturally, a lot of content was made based on Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 5, and the long-awaited GTA 6, which Take-Two Interactive sniped off the internet faster than we could see it. Other companies are likely to follow up with their own DMCA claims, as this model and its potential successors are perhaps the greatest threat to visual and interactive media since LLMs first became popular.

AI is seeping into every facet of society, despite our best efforts to fight against it. While some of its uses are valid and a net gain for productivity, its role in art is heavily debated, with critics (myself included) believing artificiality has no place in anything even remotely connected to art.

That never stopped earnings-obsessed elites and quarterly-minded shareholders, and we’re soon getting an AI-generated movie from none other than Daniel Aronofsky, a man who previously directed such films of tremendous quality like Requiem for a Dream. It looks just as bad as you can imagine, but I have a feeling those behind it don’t really care.

That same psychological profile that led to Arofonsky’s movie is going to be pushing for Project Genie to be utilized in games, movies, TV shows, animations, you name it, and we all stand to lose if that happens.

And in our stock-oriented world, that might just be around the corner.

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Yapyap could become the next co-op hit in 2026 when it goes live soon on Steam.

The upcoming title will be introduced to PC players as a full launch, and not much time is left for the game to go live. This guide will help you keep track of the launch.

Yapyap release countdown

Yapyap goes live globally on Feb. 3, 2026, and the following countdown will expire once the game is available.

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The countdown is based on the following timings.

• 10am PT
• 12pm CT
• 1pm ET
• 6pm UTC
• 7pm CET

The timings mentioned in this guide are based on the information available on SteamDB. If there’s any late update, the change will reflect on this guide. Yapyap will be available only on PC, and there’s no way to pre-order. If you’re interesting in adding it to your Steam library, a wishlist option is available.

What to expect from Yapyap

Yapyap is a magic-themed co-op horror title that you can play with up to five other buddies. You play as minions summoned by a wizard to destroy the rival’s towers. To do so, you’ll have to resort to using different spells. However, there will be monsters and other beasts to slay (or avoid).

While vandalism is promoted in the game, there’s no one way of doing it. You can cast unique spells to defeat your enemies and complete your objectives. To cast spells, you’ll need to use voice commands. The ultimate aim is to escape the tower, but the task is easier said than done.

It will be interesting to find out if Yapyap can entice the audience. We have had previous indie titles like Mage Arena that used voice command for inputs.

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