Gamescom takes the spotlight — GenAi Showcase

It’s that time of year again; Gamescom takes the spotlight and shines it on all the upcoming games. With announcement after announcement, viewers have praised many of the games already shown, including The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, Fable, and Metro 2039. Yet underneath these shining examples of games crafted with love, sits an ever-growing shadow. One that viewers were quick to recognize and take to the internet to make sure everyone knew.

GenAI. The little thorn in every industry's side that doesn’t seem to go away. A thorn the vast majority of people are getting tired of dealing with. The frustration felt by gamers has been brewing since AI companies first started showcasing how anyone could make “art” with just a few prompts. The issue compounded when a massive social media push shoved AI videos onto every screen. They were everywhere all at once; if you were on the internet, then you were fed AI, whether you wanted it or not. Not only were there computer-generated videos and art; they also showcased the first “AI-generated video games.”

Although they were rough and showed very few signs of being an actual video game, the idea was already making its rounds on social media. The simple idea that it was possible to replace either full game devs with AI or simply replace the artists who worked longer hours was all it took. Game devs already have a hard time in this industry, with massive layoffs always looming on the horizon; they now have to face the future of “AI art”. Why employ hundreds of developers and artists when you can replace all of them with a few prompts?

For Publishers trying to maximize their profits, there was always one ending to this story.

Public Backlash

With all that said, it should come as no surprise that the public has quickly become a harsh critic of anything AI. The slow introduction in the gaming industry doesn’t give gamers a positive outlook for future releases, and this is just the beginning.

Aside from the obvious assets and art being developed by our AI counterparts, there is also a hidden aspect behind everything. All the coding that makes the game run. Many companies are already forcing coders and devs to create their code through AI. Their only job is to make sure it works. For many in the industry, it takes away from the reason they started their careers: for the love of it. The passion that drives devs and coders to start learning their craft is slowly being drained from them.

If they lose the satisfaction they feel after working long hours on something they made with a team of passionate developers, then the soul of the games they make will also start to fade. The constant layoffs already have many developers doubting their jobs in the back of their minds. Without their passion, they are just another cog in the machine, waiting to be replaced with the next shiny, cheaper option.

Even when that option takes away the heart.

What Does The Future Hold?

Many gamers hope the trend of AI developers is just that, a trend that won’t last. Game developers feel the same way, and maybe in the coming years, we will slowly start to see the industry turn away from AI usage. With the backlash getting as vocal as it is, there is a good chance it will only get more widespread, or, like with other issues in the industry, gamers will become fatigued trying to fight AI implementation.

I’m afraid the only way companies will turn away from using “AI developers” will be if the backlash finally starts to tank their sales, and the chances of that are up in the air. It all comes down to the gamers and how vocal they stay against the use of AI.

Revenue is the language of publishers. So until that changes, the future of AI is concerning. With AI already cutting development costs and incentivizing its use, if they consistently break sales records, there will be no reason to go back to hiring passionate developers.

For now, it seems AI will continue to make its way into the development cycle of many games. Gamers who remain vocal, creating lists of games that use AI, may soon find the list continues to grow over the next few years.