Chinese technology giant Tencent has rolled out its Hunyuan 3D engine worldwide, positioning the platform as a way to “empower creators” through advanced tools that enable the creation of AI-generated 3D assets.

Alongside the global release, Tencent Cloud has made the Hunyuan 3D Model API available to businesses internationally. In theory, this allows companies to seamlessly integrate 3D generation into a wide range of use cases, from game development and e-commerce marketing to film visual effects, advertising, and social media content production.

Individual users can currently generate up to 20 assets per day for free, while enterprise customers using the API receive 200 complimentary credits for asset generation.

Tencent says more than 150 companies in mainland China have already integrated the API via Tencent Cloud, including Unity China, Bambu Lab, and Liblib.

Despite repeated missteps and resistance, companies continue to promote AI aggressively.

Across the industry, game companies continue to view generative AI not only as a near-term development aid, but as a long-term strategic investment. EA has partnered with Stability AI to co-develop models, tools, and workflows it says will help teams “reimagine how content is built.” Subnautica publisher Krafton has reiterated plans to become an “AI-first” company, while Square Enix has said it aims to automate 70 percent of QA and debugging tasks using generative AI by late 2027.

Some executives remain optimistic. Nexon’s CEO has suggested it’s safe to assume every major game company is now using AI in some capacity, while Take-Two’s CEO has argued the technology will create jobs rather than eliminate them. At the same time, controversies and course corrections continue to mount.

In August, leadership at Microsoft owned studio King, best known for Candy Crush, was reportedly labeled “AI skeptical” following a Microsoft mandate to adopt the technology, a skepticism that appears to be growing. Last week, U.S. congressman Ro Khanna criticized the alleged use of AI-generated imagery in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and called for regulations to stop companies from “using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits.”

Recent examples from just the past six months highlight the pushback: Frontier Developments reversed its plan to use generative AI in Jurassic World Evolution 3 after fan backlash; 11 Bit Studios apologized for including AI-generated content in The Alters without clearly disclosing it on Steam; Unity pledged to implement stronger copyright safeguards for its AI tools after an employee generated Mickey Mouse on a livestream; a French actress filed legal action against Aspyr Media over claims that AI was used to replicate her Lara Croft voice work in Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered without consent; Broken Sword co-creator Charles Cecil described AI upscaling as an “expensive mistake”; and several Japanese game studios formally asked OpenAI to stop using their work to train models such as Sora 2.