Crystal ball: The company accused of creating Pokémon knockoffs “with a gun” has said it has no interest in using generative AI in its games. While the paper argues that the majority of gamers are opposed to this type of content, it notes that generative AI is likely to remain a controversial topic in the industry for a variety of reasons.
The debate surrounding AI-generated assets in games rages on, but Pocketpair has already taken a clear position. The Japanese studio best known for Palworld says it doesn’t use generated AI in its games, claiming potential customers are rejecting “fake” assets and other AI-generated content.
“Gamers don’t want that,” John Buckley, Pocketpair’s head of publishing and communications, said in a recent interview. And, “If the gamer doesn’t want that, I guess that’s it, right? There’s not much conversation to be had.”
Palworld’s developers were previously accused of both plagiarism and using generative AI when creating some of the game’s assets and creature designs. Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against the studio, but so far the dispute has not turned completely in its favor.
Buckley also said in the interview that some developers are already using generative AI in their games. However, he believes this trend has not yet caught on widely, adding that Pocketpair is not interested in widespread adoption of the technology in any case.
While some companies are considering chatbots and large-scale language models to save time and reduce dependence on human authors, a growing public backlash suggests the generative AI “bubble” may eventually burst. Mr Buckley said Pocketpair already had all the in-house artists it needed and insisted there was no “pointless” reason to replace staff doing the same job with an AI system.
The debate surrounding generative AI in games continues to rage. Established studios like Crystal Dynamics have found themselves describing the use of AI-generated assets as placeholders in the latest Tomb Raider remake. Meanwhile, Sega faced huge backlash after introducing its new Crazy Taxi game as an AI-assisted production.
Steam now requires developers to disclose if and how they use AI in their games. However, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney argued that nearly every game in the future will include some form of generative AI, making Valve’s disclosure requirements unnecessary.
Pocketpair’s John Buckley is less convinced by Sweeney’s position. He suggested that the industry could ultimately fracture, with some studios leaning into much-hyped “human-made” identities in response to growing concerns about “AI slop” on digital storefronts. He also believes that the adoption of AI could lead to regional disparities.
While some developers in Asia, including China and South Korea, may adopt AI more quickly than their competitors, Western studios and players remain resistant. Stellar Blade developer Shift Up also said that generative AI could help Korean studios compete with much larger companies in China and the United States.
