Introducing Endless AI Dungeon

Unlimited AI Dungeon for All

We want all AI Dungeon players to enjoy endless AI-driven adventures. Unfortunately, some adventures have been cut short by the energy system, which was introduced to prevent excessive use of AI server capacity. Within the energy system, a player has a limited number of AI actions they can take before their energy is consumed, and then they must wait for the energy to recharge before continuing their AI adventure. Unsurprisingly, the limitations of the energy system have become one of the most common themes we see in requests, feedback, and complaints. Players frequently share their thoughts on ways we can improve the energy system.

One idea in particular gained traction—replacing the energy system with ads for free players. Frankly, we resisted the idea of ads for a long time, but the consistent requests from players finally convinced us to take a closer look.

We spent a great deal of time researching other experiences that use ads as a cost-covering mechanism. We looked at social platforms like Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook, which serve ads before video content. We also looked at streaming platforms like Hulu, HBO Max, and Peacock, which show ads in addition to a monthly subscription charge. We also looked at ads in games. Since then, we’ve built and tested different ad experiences in AI Dungeon that our community gave us feedback on; this has helped us iterate and refine the experience.

We realized that including ads for free players lets us give them more content, making a win-win for all. All subscribed users can continue to enjoy AI Dungeon as an ad-free experience.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised how excited players are for ads! In addition to gathering feedback from our testing group and our Discord community, we recently surveyed AI Dungeon players. We found that the majority of free players prefer ads vs the energy system. A full 80% of our players support developers using ads to cover the costs of free game play.

After a lot of work and iteration with community members we’re now able to offer endless AI Dungeon to all players, whether they have a paid subscription or not.

How endless AI Dungeon will work

Ads will only be shown to players using the free version of AI Dungeon. Subscribers to Voyage or our AI Dungeon Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers will continue to enjoy an ad-free AI Dungeon experience. Subscribers will also continue to have other premium features, such as our advanced AI models, AI Dungeon 2D, advanced settings, and more.

For players using the free version of AI Dungeon, ads will be shown occasionally during adventures while players are waiting for the AI to generate the next step in the adventure. After the player submits a prompt, the ad screen loads, a timer will begin and will count down as the ad is being shown. Once the timer has counted down, the player will be able to close the ad window. Since it takes time for AI generations to be ready, the ad viewing will simply fill the time a player would normally spend waiting for the AI response.

Unlike the energy system, the ad-supported experience can be continued indefinitely. As long as you keep watching ads, you can continue to play AI Dungeon endlessly. The days of waiting for energy to recharge are over.

Multiple options to remove ads

We understand that not everyone will be interested in playing an ad-based version of AI Dungeon. In fact, 64% of AI Dungeon players would be interested in a one-time payment to remove ads. That will be possible through the Steam version of AI Dungeon.

We have recently announced that AI Dungeon is coming to Steam. Players who purchase AI Dungeon on Steam can play endless AI Dungeon without ads. In addition to no ads, Steam users will also unlock premium features like AI Dungeon 2D and AI settings.

Additionally, all subscriptions will continue to be ad free.

We welcome your feedback

Just as we’ve done with other features and improvements on AI Dungeon, we plan to iterate and improve on the ad solution we’re launching. We will continue to test different ad experiences, ad platforms, ad types, how frequently ads are shown, and where ads are shown. We also plan to test unlocking certain premium features by opting in to watching more ads (87% of players said they’d watch ads to unlock premium features). Our players are excited to have new ways to enjoy more of the AI Dungeon experience for free.

Please continue to send us feedback as we retire the energy system and roll out Endless AI Dungeon for all. And most importantly, enjoy your next AI adventure!