- Epic Games CEO says ‘almost all’ future games will be created with AI
- That means Steam using AI tags “makes no sense,” says Sweeney
- The use of AI in game development has been a divisive topic of late.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is known for his occasionally controversial stances, and the gaming boss has returned to the spotlight with a comment about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in gaming, and not everyone will be pleased.
Sweeney was responding to a comment on
In response, Sweeney agreed with the comment: “Agreed. The AI label is relevant to art exhibitions for disclosure of authorship and to digital content licensing markets where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in almost all future production.”
Epic Games takes a noticeably different approach than rival online game store Steam on this point. Disclosures about the use of AI in game development are not displayed on Epic’s online store. On Steam, they are displayed prominently, allowing customers to see if artificial intelligence has been used in the creation of the game.
On the Steam page for the popular game ARC Raiders, for example, Steam shows the following: “Developers describe how their game uses AI-generated content this way: During the development process, we may use procedural and AI-based tools to assist with content creation. In all of these cases, the final product reflects the creativity and expression of our own development team.” However, that statement is nowhere to be found on the Epic Games online store.
Analysis: a thorny issue
Sweeney’s comments may strike a chord (positive or negative) with gamers, and the role of AI in game development has been a hot topic of late. ARC Raiders received a lot of criticism for its use of AI-generated vocal lines, which critics said could encourage more developers to take jobs away from human creators.
The issue Sweeney was discussing – the “rights situation” – is particularly pertinent in games, where it may not be clear whether AI-generated content has infringed the rights of whoever created the elements the AI was trained on. But Sweeney seems to argue that this is not a relevant concern in the gaming sphere, since “AI will be involved in almost all future production” anyway.
Whether he’s right or not, many game studios are considering using AI during production or are already actively doing so. However, there are many developers who have taken the opposite position and have ruled out using AI tools in their titles.
Clearly, this remains a thorny issue in the industry and, with different retailers and developers taking different approaches, it is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
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