There’s a certain routine setting in for AI in video games right now, wherein a studio or publisher uses it to some extent, only to get pushback and replace the generative assets with more human work. The approach is fundamentally wrong-headed, believes Martin Klima, the CEO of Warhorse Studios, the studio behind the Kingdom Come: Deliverance games, because the tech is a tool, not a replacement for the creative process.
“AI is not a get out of jail free card,” he tells PC Gamer. He dispels the notion of replacing devs with generative AI tools, because “it doesn’t work how people imagine in a very simplified mental model,” and it’s a “fundamentally flawed idea, because it doesn’t work like that.”
But if you view it merely as something to help make development more efficient, then perhaps there’s a discussion. “It can mean [the game] has more branching classes,” he says.
“It can mean it has more missions to play, whatever,” he adds. “People will still want to have this bigger game. While AI may not reduce the cost of the game, it will allow us to create bigger games for the same cost.”
He’s touching on a fundamental debate around gen-AI. Could the technology be helpful to creative teams? Sure, if used in a way that streamlines processes and enhances existing human work. But that’s not how it’s being employed right now, because many of the examples we’ve seen in games have been assets created using wholesale image, video, audio, or text generation.
Projects like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, developed by a relatively modest-sized team for its size, could be slightly easier to produce overall by taking the edge off administrative tasks or such, for example. Klima’s perspective has been echoed by others, including Death Stranding and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, who sees AI as a tool, but doesn’t want it replacing anyone’s jobs. Sadly, many in charge can’t get by a perceived reduction in costs – at least for the time being.