SonicFox cancels Nexcon 2026 appearance over AI art dispute

Fighting game esports star SonicFox has cancelled their appearance at Nexcon 2026 after objecting to a promotional flyer that they said used AI to generate their likeness. The competitor, who had been advertised as a special guest, confirmed that their contract had been terminated.

Nexcon 2026 is scheduled for November 14–15 in Norman, Oklahoma. SonicFox’s decision followed a social media post drawing their attention to the flyer, despite a subsequent update that the event organisers were taking steps to address the issue.

Flyer prompts objection

X user Z2WJustin tagged SonicFox and voice actress Kara Edwards in a post about the promotional material. The event’s venue in Norman, Oklahoma, is believed to have created the material using AI.

SonicFox responded on October 20: “Not sure who’s in charge of Nexcon but I absolutely refuse to have my likeness be AI generated and my interest in attending as a special guest has dropped to 0. Incredibly disrespectful.”

The objection centred on how SonicFox was depicted in material promoting an event they were due to attend. Their initial response made clear that the flyer had changed their willingness to appear as a guest, before they confirmed the contract had ended.

On October 21, Z2WJustin posted an update saying the organisers had been in contact. “Want to add that they did reach out to me today and let me know they are working with real artists to fix things and trying to ban AI art from their platform entirely,” the user wrote.

Appearance cancelled despite update

The reported effort to fix the promotional material did not persuade SonicFox to attend. In a later post, the fighting game competitor wrote: “Update: Contract terminated and no longer attending!”

At the time of the report, the Nexcon 2026 website still listed SonicFox as a special guest alongside Dragon Ball voice actor Kara Edwards. Edwards had not commented on the flyer or its contents, leaving SonicFox as the only listed guest in the report to have publicly addressed it.

Nexcon 2026 remains scheduled for November 14–15, but SonicFox says they will no longer be there. Dexerto has contacted event organisers Ninjutsu Entertainment for comment.