Illustration: Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images
Gamers, take note: If you thought the new title was a derivative work on top of the never-ending parade of sequels and remakes, wait until you hear what game engine maker Unity has in store.
During a recent earnings call, the company’s CEO Matthew Blomberg teased a new version of the AI tool, somehow keeping a straight face and claiming it would eliminate the need for coding in game development. Now you can inspire any asshole to become the next Hideo Kojima or Sam Lake. In theory anyway.
“At the Game Developers Conference in March, we will be announcing a beta version of our newly upgraded Unity AI, which will enable developers to create fully casual games using only natural language native to our platform, so it’s easy to go from prototype to finished product,” Bromberg said. game developer.
“This assistant leverages the best existing frontier models while being powered by a unique understanding of project context and runtime,” he continued. “We believe this combination provides game developers with more efficient and effective results than the generic model alone.”
This announcement represents a bold, if no doubt, double-down by Unity. Research conducted by game developer We found that more than half of gaming professionals think generative AI is bad for the industry. This is also a major reputational risk. When games using this technology are caught, they almost always spark controversy. Underscoring the extent of the controversy, video game store Steam requires developers to disclose whether their titles use AI-generated content.
There is also growing evidence to suggest that AI tools do not improve productivity, or at least not without sacrificing quality or morale, and many programmers believe that AI coding tools are too error-prone to be worth the effort.
And that’s the case for people who have the experience to recognize where technology falls short. Unity is probably targeted at clueless developers and ignorant, dollar-sign-in-the-eye bosses who try to force it on their subordinates. (This is a common trait among AI evangelists, new converts or not.: For example, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang lashed out after he recommended that some managers reduce their use of AI, saying that employees who don’t use AI to automate every task are “insane.” Another CEO boasted that he fired 80% of his employees because they weren’t as passionate about AI as he was. )
But Unity is promoting AI for the useful purpose of “democratizing” game development.
“Our goal is to remove as much friction as possible from the creative process and become a universal bridge between the initial spark of creativity and successful, scalable, and enduring digital experiences,” Blomberg said.
I’m not holding my breath hoping something good will happen.
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