Level-5 gaming studio CEO reveals that most game companies use generative AI

Japanese game publisher Level-5 has been under fire after its CEO, Akihiro Hino, supported the use of AI in creating video games.

It all started when Hino gave a speech at the Top Game Creators Academy earlier in December that mentioned that having a unique aesthetic is more important than ever since “80 to 90% of codes are written by AI” and then “fixed up and finalized by human programmers” these days. With AI infiltrating all aspects of game creation, the game’s unique appearance, story, and theme is what will make it stand apart.

This unsurprisingly didn’t go over well with the gaming community, which has still been reeling after Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s developer admitted that generative AI was used in the early days of the game’s development.

Hino then took to X (formerly Twitter) to clear up some of his quotes from the speech.

“Many game companies these days are incorporating AI into game development”

Hino doubled down on his perspective on AI in games on social media. In a lengthy post, he explained that Level-5 has used AI to “improve development efficiency” and he believes almost all publishers have done the same.

“The difference is whether they publicize it or not,” he added.

This is something I’ve often speculated myself. After the Indie Game Awards stripped Expedition 33 of its Game of the Year title after the publisher admitted to using generative AI, I felt that the backlash was extreme. According to developers, Expedition 33’s team replaced all of the generative AI-created components of the game throughout the process, but some images managed to get through.

Even though it was patched out, the gaming community had already turned against the game. It was now tainted by the evils of AI. However, I think that it was all a bit pick-and-choose from the Indie Game Awards and the gaming community, since most games use AI and just don’t say it. This is just my assumption, but I think it’s a strong assumption to make.

“AI is enabling time savings that can’t be dismissed, and I believe this has the potential to upend common sense in game development,” Hino explained. “It might shift us from a world where developing the AAA games everyone wants to play takes five to 10 years to one where we get to enjoy them every two years.”

He went on to add that shunning AI is hindering the advancement of modern digital technology.

The gaming community responded with frustration, claiming they’d rather wait a decade for a game if it meant that AI wouldn’t be used in the process. Gamers pointed out that generative AI is just “copy and pasting” existing work, essentially stealing it. Many simply said that genAI is “evil.”

Said one frustrated gamer: “Video games have been made perfectly fine for decades without AI. Level-5, in particular, has made many legendary and memorable games without the use of AI. Acting like it’s a necessity going forward is bullshit.”

The war against AI is definitely continuing in the gaming community, with many feeling frustrated with how many studios are turning to the new technology. As previously predicted, Halo Studios is “all in” on generative AI. I’d say most studios are, but nobody wants to face the backlash.