With the use of generative AI being a hot-button issue in the video games industry, Pocketpair’s head of communications and publishing, John Buckley, has entered the discussion. Speaking to GamesRadar, Buckley said that Pocketpair itself doesn’t use generative AI since “Gamers don’t want it.”
“And if the gamers don’t want it, I guess that’s it, right? Not much of a conversation to be had.”
While this simple argument might seem like it’s enough for the Palworld developer, Buckley has acknowledged that it might not be enough for other development teams. He also went on to call the current market trends supporting generative AI as unsustainable in the long term.
“I’m sure some people are doing it,” he said. “It’s not really for us. I personally can’t imagine it ever being too prominent. I’m sure there are some companies out there, some big companies, that are maybe using it to ‘save time.’ I don’t know. I don’t really think gen AI has much – I don’t want to call it a bubble, but I don’t know how much longer it’s gonna keep up. Even Steam is pushing back a certain amount on it.”
Buckley went on to note that Pocketpair already has “a lot of artists in-house. They like doing stuff themselves. There’s no reason to get rid of them for the sake of an AI doing it. Just seems pointless.”
He also doesn’t seem to have much of a high opinion of games that have been made with AI-generated assets. “Even I, who is in the industry, I just felt like a natural, ugh, why? The rest of your game looks fine. Did you need to…? I think that’s going to be the attitude for quite a while. I think people will look at it and say, did you need to do that? Couldn’t you just do it yourself?”
As for whether there’s going to be a shift in marketing strategies that revolve around studios announcing that their game doesn’t use generative AI, Buckley is more optimistic on the subject.
“I don’t know if we need to now start saying this is 100% human-made,” Buckley adds. “I think we should just all assume games are human-made unless said otherwise. I think it’s a bit dystopian that it might end up like that. We’ll have to put a Steam disclaimer, ‘This game is made by humans.’ That’s kind of sad to think about.”
“Not saying I am, but there are some markets that are a lot more willing to adapt than some others, and I think that’s where the clashing will come,” he continued. “Two to three years from now, we’ll see a bigger clash in that regard. Certainly, in the West, I think people will remain pretty against [it] for a while.”
In recent times, Playground Games has confirmed that AI-generated voices weren’t used for its upcoming RPG, Fable. On the other hand, Crystal Dynamics has confirmed the use of generative AI for the early parts of the development for Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.
