AI game testing bots will make buggy AAA launches a thing of the past
pcgamesinsider.bizWe recently featured Christoffer Holmgård, CEO of modl.ai, in our new AI Gamechangers newsletter. This is a follow-up opinion piece where he writes about how AI-powered bots can transform the industry by making expensive and reputation-damaging buggy game launches obsolete, as demonstrated by the contrasting examples of Cyberpunk 2077's problematic release versus Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's successful launch.
As AAA games continue to grow in scale and complexity, buggy launches have become the norm.
The issue-ridden release trend is driven by market dynamics that prioritize speed over quality, but the benefits of winning the race to market do not outweigh the costs of rushing out a sub-par, bug-ridden product. From financial losses to reputational damage and delayed release cycles to stressed-out devs, the fallout from forcing post-launch bug fixes is immense.
Take Cyberpunk 2077 as a case in point. Following the infamous 2020 release, gamers ripped Cyberpunk to shreds online. CD Projekt Red (CDPR) issued refunds. Sony removed the game from the PlayStation store. CDPR spent $40 million on post-release bug fixes, updates, and expanded console compatibility. And in an attempt to win back gamers, the studio also spent over $80 million to develop and market the Phantom Liberty game expansion.
The $120 million total investment was intended to salvage Cyberpunk's chance of long-term success and restore its reputation. After seven years of building anticipation and garnering accolades from the community, CDPR flushed all that goodwill away with a buggy launch. Why didn’t the studio take just a little longer to identify and address the catastrophic glitches before launching?
Developers don’t intentionally release flawed products; rather, these kinds of buggy game launches are a byproduct of economic pressures. But to ensure bug-free releases without slowing down development cycles, AAA studios (and developers at all levels, for that matter) need advanced AI
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