More game developers openly use generative AI despite criticism
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Generative AI, or AI used to create new images, text and sound based on prompts and training data, has had a contentious history in the game development community recently. While generative AI has become a commonly used tool for those who create user-generated content (UGC), its use as a tool for game developers has come with criticism. In particular, some users question why AI should be used when a human developer could do the job.
Despite this pushback, game developers and publishers have started openly using AI tools. Major games companies such as Unity, Epic Games, Roblox and Ubisoft have all announced generative AI integrations in their development kits. As generative AI is becoming more commonplace in game development, creators appear to be moving past the early criticism in favor of publicly disclosing their use of AI.
The controversy bubbled up a few months ago when gamers criticized Squanch Games for its use of AI-created art in its game High On Life. Then-CEO Justin Roiland said the art, created by Midjourney, was used to give the world of the game an otherworldly quality appropriate for its alien planet setting. He said they also used Midjourney to create “weird, funny ideas.”
Last year, a report from Good Luck Have Fun revealed that Ninja Theory, among other developers, used a library provided by Altered AI to create vocal performances. Ninja Theory clarified later that it only used the technology to create “placeholder content only to help [Ninja Theory] understand things like timing and placement in early phases of development.”
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