Generative artificial intelligence models capable of dreaming up ultra-realistic characters and virtual universes could make for cheaper, better video games in future, but the emerging technology has artists and developers on edge.
Already, “generative AI is used a lot more in commercial game development than people realise, but it’s used in very small ways” such as dubbing, illustrations or coding help, said Mike Cook, a game designer and computer science lecturer at King’s College London.
Such uses of AI are rarely noticeable for the player of the finished product, he added.
One study from the American startup Totally Human Media found that almost 20 percent of titles available this year via the Steam distribution platform disclosed the use of generative AI during development.
That would account for several thousand games released in recent years, including mass-market juggernauts like “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” or the life simulation game “Inzoi”.
The growth of AI should allow studios to “merge several job roles into one, assisted by these tools”, said AI consultant Davy Chadwick, who predicted a “30 to 40 percent boost” to developers’ output.
Progress has come at a rapid clip, with the latest tools able to generate 3D assets like characters or objects from a simple text prompt, which can then be dropped straight into a game world.
“In the past, if you wanted to create a high-quality 3D model, it’s going to take you two weeks and $1,000,” said Ethan Hu, founder of the California-based startup Meshy.ai, which claims to have more than five million users.
“Now the cost is one minute and $2,” he said.
Industry heavyweights have come at generative AI from different angles, with Electronic Arts partnering with the startup Stability AI while Xbox maker Microsoft develops its own model called “Muse”.
The stakes and potential rewards are high in the world’s biggest cultural industry, worth almost $190 million in revenue in 2025, according to the data firm Newzoo.
Industry actors hope new technology will both juice productivity and reduce the cost and time needed to develop a high-quality game, said Tommy Thompson, founder of the “AI and Games” platform.
But “there’s a lot of distrust and fear” among workers in a sector that has already gone through several waves of layoffs in recent years, said one employee at a French game studio on condition of anonymity.
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