Video Game Made Purely With AI Failed Because Tech Was 'Unable to Replace Talent'

Video game support developer Keywords Studios tried to create a game solely using artificial intelligence but failed because the technology was "unable to replace talent".

As reported by Game Developer, Keywords said in its latest financial earnings report that it tried using the controversial technology to create a 2D game solely using Gen AI. The process lasted six months and highlighted "where Gen AI has the potential to augment the game development process, and where it lags behind".

Keywords said the AI tool "identified over 400 tools, evaluating and utilising those with the best potential" but it "ultimately utilised bench resource from seven different game development studios as part of the project, as the tooling was unable to replace talent".

The best results and quality needed can only be achieved by experts in their field.

It therefore ascertained game development could not exist without real people, and that AI could only be used as another tool in the process. "One of the key learnings was that whilst Gen AI may simplify or accelerate certain processes, the best results and quality needed can only be achieved by experts in their field utilising Gen AI as a new, powerful tool in their creative process," Keywords said.

The game will not be released to the public as it was just a research project, and Keywords didn't provide any additional information about what type of 2D game it created.

The developer is one of the biggest outsourcing studios in the world and have worked on several high calibre games such as Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2.

Video games have endured a particularly complicated relationship with AI. Embark Studios, the developer of smash hit shooter The Finals, was criticised for using AI voiceovers by myriad actors and even other developers, for example, but Embark told IGN that "making games without actors isn't an end goal" and claimed it used a mix of both recorded audio voices and audio generated via AI text to speech tools for its games.

Video game voice actors previously called out AI-generated explicit Skyrim mods, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate voice actress Victoria Atkin called AI-generated mods the “invisible enemy we're fighting right now” after discovering her voice was used by cloning software. Paul Eiding, the voice actor behind Colonel Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series, also condemned its use.

The Witcher voice actor Doug Cockle also expressed caution and frustration at the growing presence of AI within the video game industry, calling it "inevitable" but "dangerous". Ironically, however, the biggest developer to use AI for voice acting so far is The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red, though this was only done to replace a deceased voice actor after gaining permission from the family.