Sega said it will begin implementing AI into game development only in certain ways.
In a Q&A session following the release of this fiscal year's second-quarter results, Sega executives were asked about increasing game development costs and whether the company would follow the trend of larger projects or instead consider more efficient development methods.
Sega's official answer is to leverage efficient development methods, including the use of AI in game development.
However, noting that the use of generative AI has been a particularly controversial topic in recent years, particularly when it comes to its use in artistic roles, Sega says it only uses AI tools when it deems it appropriate during development.
“Rather than just following the flow of large-scale development, we will also pursue efficiency improvements such as the use of AI,'' the company's official response said.
“However, there may be strong resistance to introducing AI in creative fields such as character creation, so we will proceed while carefully identifying appropriate use cases, such as improving the efficiency of the development process.”
The subject of generative AI is becoming increasingly divisive as its use becomes more widespread across the gaming industry.
Earlier this week, Japanese news publication Daily Shinko quoted the chief graphic designer at an unnamed Japanese game development company as revealing that anyone applying for an art job now has to draw something during the actual interview process to prove they actually have artistic ability and aren't just using generative AI.
“Many people claim that AI-generated artwork is their own creation,” they explained (via machine translation). “In fact, we ended up hiring people like that and found that they weren't being productive, which caused some problems.”
The person concerned warned that the situation may be changing, as studio executives continue to have questions such as “Why do we need to hire creators when generative AI is sufficient?'' and “We should hire people who are skilled in using generative AI.''
Last month, Shams Jorjani, CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, said he wanted to see a “middle ground” in the debate over AI, arguing there were too many people sitting on opposite ends of the debate.
Discussing the difference between AI tools that replace creativity and AI tools that increase efficiency on The Game Business, including the use of AI to transcribe content versus AI used to actually create content, Jorjani said more needs to be done about this distinction.
“That nuance is lost, isn't it?” he asked. “Sometimes we end up not saying, 'Let's remove the stuff that no one wants to do,' but rather, 'You know, let's not actually do it…all AI is bad AI.' We have a very similar approach. We don't have AI in the game, but if we can process receipts faster because of AI, that's more Helldiver for everyone. It's not Helldiver specifically, but you get the point.”
Last month, VGC visited Ubisoft's Paris studio to try out Teammate, an AI technology demo in which players issue commands to AI-controlled teammates.
“While this all works surprisingly well and is the first time I've really wanted to play an adventure like this, there are still many issues that need to be resolved before games using this technology can be widely accepted in the first place, let alone sell much more,” we wrote.
