Generative AI's integration into gaming has revolutionized the industry, allowing developers to craft virtual worlds that adapt to player choices, enhanced graphics, improved interactivity, and engaging storytelling.
Several gaming giants are already leading the charge and championing the technology for gaming development: Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's Playstation, Meta, and more.
How Is Generative AI Used To Make Games?
The synergy between generative AI and gaming has ushered in an era of dynamic, ever-evolving gameplay experiences, pushing the boundaries of creativity and immersion.
One such example of its uses is the ability to create engaging, realistic dialogue for NPCs (non-playable characters) in games.
According to Alexis Rolland, La Forge China's Development Director, NPCs tend to look weird, and it's easy to tell when something is off about what a player is seeing or hearing.
This is why La Forge launched Ghostwriter, an AI text generator made especially to help writers make a variety of original dialogue for NPCs.
"It takes speech as input and generates body gesture as output, so we can imagine those NPCs expressing themselves with non-scripted dialogues, having almost natural body animation, synthesized from speech," Rolland explained in an interview.
Several publishers are already using AI technology to make conversations with NPCs in-game more realistic, such as NetEase, Unreal Engine, and Replica Studios.
Additionally, generative AI can also be used to create depth and details in open-world games.
Julian Togelius, an AI and games researcher from New York University, pictures an AI-powered open game with endless opportunities, cities, places, and people. AI can then help tailor-fit the game to the player's preferences "like a personalized dungeon master."
Meanwhile, Sims developer Maxis believes the technology could make producing User-Generated Content (UGC) easier, as well as increase its quality.
"Generative AI has the potential to allow for a much broader and more emergent set of personalized and reactive player experiences," a Maxis spokesperson told CNN.
AI Tools Are Already Used in Development
Introduced earlier this year, Ubisoft's Ghostwriter has been a prominent name among AI tools used to create engaging NPC dialogues and scrap repetitive tasks for developers.
Meanwhile, tools like the 3D animator ZooBuilder help fasten the animation process for developers by using videos to animate in-game animals.
"Video games are in for quite a trip in the next decade or two," shared Togelius. "It requires us to change the way we’re thinking when it comes to game design, but I think that when it happens, games are just going to get so much better."
Edited by Nikola Djuric
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