Hello CODM Reddit,
I'm here to share a situation that's been unfolding within a segment of the community, and perhaps the rest of you might not be aware of it. If you want a detailed understanding, read through to the end of this post.
At the beginning of last month (August), CODM and DeviantArt collaborated on an art contest. This was widely publicized, and some of you might have seen it when you opened the game last month. I, along with other artists, participated in this contest. It was well-detailed with very clear rules. The duration of the contest (08/01 – 08/29) was incredible, with many real and inspiring artworks. There were some AI bots among the entries, but that was somewhat inevitable, given DeviantArt's open support for such content. However, we were reassured because the rules explicitly prohibited the use of third-party intellectual property, indicating that only entirely original artworks would be accepted.
So, the 29th came, and we were all anxious as the contest ended. We would have to wait until the 12th to get results because, according to the rules, DeviantArt’s team would select 40 entries from all submissions (approximately 60-70 legitimate ones, based on what I counted). From these 40, the CODM team would then select the 8 winners, with one of them being featured in the game.
The wait was tough, and two weeks passed. On the 12th, we were all apprehensive since no official results had been announced. However, something happened: someone spoke up and shared proof that they had been selected. I was eager to see which of the artworks I had been rooting for had won, and I was shocked to discover that one of the 8 selected was a person who used collages, AI, and stock images (evidence here) (We don't know which piece from this person was selected, only that they were. Regardless, all of them entries are similar). This caused widespread confusion. How could an artificial piece be selected among the 40 semifinalists from nearly 60 genuine entries, and then chosen by CODM as one of the 8 winners? Apart from this person, no one else came forward. I checked and it was official, coming from a verified source. I was confused and looked for the entries I thought would win first place, and to my surprise, none of them made it to the top 8. Only this person who had used collages had secured a spot among the 8 winners. In total, there were about 30 entries, all of which were collages of stock images, CODM content, and AI.
The final result is that we are all disappointed. It seemed like a genuine opportunity to get into the game.
"But why are you so concerned about this? It’s just one winner out of 8."
I respond, because this contradicts everything the contest was supposed to be. If they ignored all 60 real artists and let a collage of Google images pass through two qualified teams, everything started to get confusing. The lack of explanation, communication, and clarity is even worse. Apparently, all the winners were selected, based on this one entry, i no longer have much confidence that there will be original artists on the podium. But why expose all this here? All the artists who are upset about this hope that the rankings will be redone. If even I, just one person, managed to distinguish all the real artists from those who submitted endless entries breaking third-party intellectual property rules, then they must have enough material to reverse and redo the count to deliver what they promised—a fair result based on artistic skill.
I am likely jeopardizing my chances of possibly winning this, but the evidence of what happened is below. I just want what they promised us.
So, to wrap up, I ask all of you to visit the post, share your opinions, look at the art entries from this contest for yourselves, and draw your own conclusions.
Thank you all for reading.