I'm an indie dev on a two-person team, making a pixel-art game about telemarketing where the customer's words fly at you as bullets. A freelancer reached out to me after my Steam page went live, and I ordered a package: key art + 4 store capsules (main, small, vertical, header), with the final in pixel art, for $320.

This is the first-stage sketch I got back (attached). I asked for a first-person view with just two hands, one holding the phone and one holding the heart, with the office turning into a bullet-hell battlefield.

Two honest questions:

1. Is $320 a fair price for this scope, based on the sketch?

2. Something about it feels AI-generated to me: the perfectly even, clean line weight, no construction lines, a handset with a keypad on both ends (edit: those are the earpiece and mic holes, thanks u/Simon_Bison), a cord that doesn't connect to anything, and customers wearing call-centre headsets. Am I being paranoid, or would you be suspicious too?

I've asked for the layered working file. Any other way to check before I approve the next stage?

Update: Thanks everyone. Most of you thought it looked AI-generated (the saturation trick was eye-opening), so I've cancelled the order. Lesson learned: next time I'll reach out to an artist whose work I already like, instead of answering a cold DM.

I recently decided to completely rework my Steam capsule because I felt the old one didn't really represent the genre or atmosphere of my game.

I created the new one directly in Unreal Engine using assets from the actual game!

I also took a lot of feedback from people on Twitter and Discord, and tested different versions using Steam Capsule Analyzer to improve the final result.

Now I'm curious about your first impressions:

• What genre do you think the game is?
• What kind of gameplay would you expect?
• Does the capsule catch your attention?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! : D Thanks in advance (i'll put the old version too in second picture)

Any opinions of the new one?
How it looks live https://store.steampowered.com/app/4967580/Battle_Bot_Tactics/

I’d love to get some feedback on this capsule art for my memory roguelike deckbuilder game. It’s joining Next Fest so I want to get the most out of it.

In the game you’re traveling the cosmos, collecting all kinds of cards as you go. It plays like memory, but with special card combos and items that create energetic synergies and unique strategies.

Do you think the capsule is engaging? And does it fit the game? Or doe you think something is missing?

Appreciate the previous and any new feedback for My RDR2 bootleg :)
Trying to escape from that little by little.

Here's the final version with most of the recommendations that were given in my previous post. I'm really happy with where it's at, thank you for all the feedback once again!

Here is our main capsules, the wide header and the main one. The game in one line: you build a deck, place your creatures, the board fights on its own, and between runs you rebuild a grey ink kingdom that gets one colour back for every act you clear.

Three quick questions:
1. At a glance, what genre would you guess?
2. Does the title still read at the small size?
3. Would you click it in a Steam list?

Steam page link if you want the full context: Steam page for context: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5244390/Beyond_Realm/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=gamecapsule

My game is like Noita and risk of rain 2, super chaotic co-op spell crafting roguelite, I added a photo mode to my game and posed all the models and what not. Wonder if it pops enough or if it’s too cluttered.