Goichi Suda (also known as Suda51), co-founder of Grasshopper Manufacture and director of Romeo Is Dead, spoke to Eurogamer to further discuss his thoughts on generative AI in game development, after previously saying the technology would not be used in future action games.
Eurogamer asked Suda if the Romeo is a Dead Man game that people will be playing in the next few days would be just as good or as artistic if generative AI was used in its development, and he replied:
“For me personally, there’s a lot of AI stuff that I see on social media. When it comes to that, the images and videos I see don’t feel right. Most people have a similar feeling. Something psychological tells me that something’s not right here. Something’s a little funky.”
“I’ve been told that there will be a day when AI can fool people and you won’t be able to tell that something is AI. That may be true, but to be honest, I don’t think we’re there yet. When I see something made with generative AI, something in the back of my brain gets excited.
“If we used AI to create Romeo, A.) it would be a fake Romeo. It’s not like he was a real person to begin with, but people would notice something shallow about the character. He’d be hard to empathize with, and it would be kind of creepy.”
“And B.) The way games are made today, the specific skills of studios and people we know, whether it’s practical effects, art, or creating the graphics themselves…the skill and passion that humans put into their work comes through to the player. It’s something that people can feel, and the AI Not only is it not made by humans, but you can tell that someone put their soul into this. You can tell that someone worked hard to make this happen.”
When asked what he thought about his previous statements and last year’s Japan Computer Entertainment Association survey that found more than half of Japanese developers use the technology in some way, Suda emphasized that he had no strong feelings about it, and shared his belief that wider use of the technology is up to player demand.
He also revealed that at one point Netease had a research department that studied generative AI, but it was eventually shut down for reasons that Suda could not confirm. But he had his theory.
“In terms of not using any AI in our games, this started as a company-wide policy at Netease,” Suda said. “Originally they had an AI-related R&D section, but at some point they decided they didn’t want to do that anymore. They folded that section and told the studios not to use AI in their games, not to use it at all.”
When asked why exactly the section was closed, Suda gave his guess. “I don’t know. They didn’t directly explain why. If I had to guess, it was probably one or both of two things: A lot of gamers out there don’t like AI and incorporating it into games. One is the copyright infringement issue, which can be difficult to avoid and needs to be cleared before anything can be made. That was also probably part of the reason. But again, that’s just my guess. No one told me directly.
You can read Eurogamer’s full interview with Suda 51 now. This interview also delves into other topics such as Grasshopper’s (and Suda’s) style, how the game is made, melting faces, Tom Cruise, and more.
