Update, Wednesday August 20, 2025: Nexon has issued a follow-up statement about its erroneous TikTok AI advertisements, apologizing for the inconvenience caused and claiming TikTok does not have a system to "verify" potential copyright infringement that could vet the ads submitted via the TikTok Creative Challenge.
Nexon said in the statement posted to X/Twitter yesterday (August 20) that the creator in the case that "involved unauthorized use of DanieltheDemon's content" has been blocked, and stressed it doesn't use creator advertisements in regular posts on its official account, but "Creator advertisement videos are displayed when users access The First Descendant’s official account through advertisements."
Nexon also stressed that while it may have "appeared as if [the ads] were posted and then deleted, that is not the case." It closed on promising to strengthen its advertisement and marketing review processes.
Here's the full statement:
"We would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment caused by the recent issue regarding the TikTok Creative Challenge.
"The TikTok Creative Challenge is a program where TikTok creators voluntarily produce and submit content that may be used as advertisements. After confirming with TikTok, we learned that no system currently exists to verify potential copyright infringement, and TikTok is now conducting further investigations to identify any additional cases.
"One confirmed case involved unauthorized use of DanieltheDemon’s content by another creator. TikTok identified this as a violation of its guidelines and has already blocked the creator’s account.
"We would also like to clarify that we do not upload creator advertisement videos as regular posts on The First Descendant’s official TikTok account. Creator advertisement videos are displayed when users access The First Descendant’s official account through advertisements.
In contrast, if the official account is directly searched and visited, these creator advertisement videos are not displayed. This feature was newly implemented by TikTok on August 15 (Friday), and therefore these videos may have appeared as if they were posted and then deleted, but that is not the case.
We are taking the TikTok advertisement issue very seriously, recognizing that we failed to uphold the authenticity of our marketing content and to respect the efforts of our creators and community.
As a result, we will strengthen our advertising and marketing review processes, including additional review steps with our development team, to ensure that such issues do not recur. We are committed to thoroughly improving our review practices.
We will also be committed to continuously being more transparent and responsible to regain the trust of our community and creators.
Once again, we deeply apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience this incident has caused. Thank you for your understanding."
Original story: Nexon said it has launched an investigation after The First Descendant players noticed a number of seemingly AI-generated advertisements on TikTok, including one that used a content creator's likeness without permission.
The developer/publisher issued a statement after Reddit user iHardlyTriHard penned a viral post collating four AI-like advertisements they had found after "only 10-15 minutes" browsing their For You Page.
The statement did not apologize directly for the AI advertisements but did apologize for "the delay in providing notice as the [investigative] review is taking longer than expected." Nexon did not, however, explain when it was notified of the adverts, or when it launched its review.
Nexon said it wanted to "inform [players] of certain irregularities identified in the operation of [its] TikTok Creative Challenge for creators," and said the campaign "allows creators to voluntarily submit their content to be used as advertising materials." It also stressed that all submitted videos had been "verified through TikTok's system."
"However, we have become aware of cases where the circumstances surrounding the production of certain submitted videos appear inappropriate," the statement added. "Thus, we are conducting a thorough joint investigation with TikTok to determine the facts.
"We sincerely apologize for the delay in providing this notice as the review is taking longer than expected. Once the verification is complete, we will promptly share an update through an official notice. Thank you for your patience and understanding."
Nexon has yet to respond to DanieltheDemon's public claim that he "did not consent for my likeness to be used."
