Birds of War Flies Onto Steam

As a proud, card-carrying Internet meme historian, I’m no stranger to video games that have spawned from anything the Internet collectively (and often randomly) decided was meme-worthy for any length of time. Even so, this one is a first as far as I’m aware: Birds of War, from developer and publisher HexNest Games, was born from a trend of people sharing clips of a fake, AI-generated bird game. To quote HexNest directly, “This is a win for human and bird-kind, we stole AI’s job.” I know generative AI (alongside all its proponents) cannot feel shame, but we can still enjoy that catharsis.

Here is what a press release has to say about Birds of War: “Birds of War drops three teams of three into fast, chaotic aerial combat, stealing eggs from rival nests and defending their own, with proximity voice chat that means you hear an opponent coming before you see them, and they hear everything you say back. The easiest way to describe it: it’s Call of Duty, but you’re a bird.” Call of Birdy, perhaps? “It’s the game internet culture accidentally designed, built for real by a team of three: a rapper, a videographer, and a former professional esports player.”

“We kept seeing these fake AI clips of a multiplayer bird game that didn’t actually exist, so we decided to change that. We thought it would take 2 weeks. It didn’t. Six months later, it’s finally here. It’s a 3v3v3 team-based shooter with no guns, just beaks and claws.” Birds of War touts “cosmetic-only monetisation” in that “nothing purchasable affects gameplay,” as well as a “9:16 in-game camera toggle and a Mute All Forever button, made for streamers and short-form creators.” If you wish to ensure everybody’s heard the “words of war,” Birds of War is available now on Steam for $6.99 USD.