Professional fighting game player SonicFox has terminated their contract with Nexcon and confirmed they will no longer attend the event as a special guest. Nexcon is scheduled to take place from November 14 to 15 in Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
On October 20, a player shared a promotional poster created by Nexcon on X. The poster featured SonicFox's furry avatar and other guests in a distinctly generative AI style. SonicFox subsequently stated that they refused to allow their personal image to be generated by AI, considered the organizer's actions highly disrespectful, and no longer intended to participate in the event.
A day later, SonicFox further confirmed that the contract had been terminated and they would not be attending Nexcon. Many of the artworks used on their social media accounts were created by artists within the furry community. The controversy surrounding this incident has focused on issues such as submitting works to generative AI without consent, as well as questions regarding licensing, attribution, and the boundaries of artwork usage.
Several members of the fighting game community have publicly voiced their support for SonicFox. Some comments argued that it was inappropriate for an event aimed at bringing together creators and artists to use AI-generated promotional materials. At the time of the announcement, all mentions of SonicFox had already been removed from the Nexcon official website.