Jagex Yanks RuneScape Trailer After Six-Fingered Knight Sparks AI Backlash

Jagex has taken down a freshly released RuneScape trailer after players noticed a knight with six fingers and began questioning whether generative AI had been used to make it.

The oddity was easy to miss at first glance, but once fans spotted it, the clip spread quickly across community spaces. Extra or malformed fingers have become one of the best-known giveaways of AI-generated imagery, and that association was enough to turn a minor visual quirk into a full-blown controversy. Within a short time, the trailer was no longer available.

Pulling the video is a notable reaction. Rather than leaving it up and defending it, Jagex chose to remove the material while the questions were sorted out. That suggests the studio recognized how sensitive the topic is for its audience, which includes many long-time players with a strong attachment to the look and feel of the game.

RuneScape has a loyal and vocal community, and the franchise has long leaned on a distinctive, hand-crafted identity. For many fans, the idea that machine-generated art could be creeping into official marketing runs against what they value about the series. Gamers across the industry have grown increasingly wary of generative AI, and studios that are seen to be using it, or even suspected of it, often face fast and loud pushback.

It is worth noting that a six-fingered hand does not on its own prove anything. Errors can come from rushed animation, a rigging mistake, a compositing slip or a concept piece that was not properly cleaned up. But in the current climate, audiences tend to assume the worst, and studios have little room for visible mistakes in promotional material.

The episode is a reminder that trust is now part of the production pipeline. Publishers that want to avoid this kind of fallout have two options: be transparent about how their creative assets are made, and make sure quality control catches obvious errors before a trailer goes public. Until a studio addresses the concern directly, speculation tends to fill the gap.

For now, the trailer is gone, and the community is waiting to see whether Jagex will explain what happened and whether a corrected version will follow.