Any concerns of Black Myth: Zhong Kui using AI have been assuaged, at least for now. The Black Myth: Wukong sequel is moving steadily along, and one of the leads says the team's approaching it somewhat like how filmmaker Christopher Nolan goes about making his movies.
Over on Weibo, Yang Qi, the art director on the Black Myth games and co-founder of studio Game Science, responded to a fan's question over whether AI will be used to speed up development.
"We'll steer clear of [AI generated content] during the design and asset phases," he says, as translated by a user on Reset Era. "Not out of resistance, but simply to stand our ground until the very end."
He references The Odyssey, Nolan's latest epic, to explain his perspective further. "At a time when digital filmmaking and 3D post-production seem to have reached a dead end, look at Nolan," Qi writes.
"He's thriving, using even older techniques to shake things up," he continues. "There's no 'last train' we absolutely have to catch; we can just stay at a small inn for a while. Besides, there's plenty of time for AI and all that - no rush."
That's a relief, because generative AI, and chatbots and the like, are becoming more prevalent within the industry. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Kingdom Hearts are just three releases and series confirmed or suspected to have used or be using gen-AI assets in some form or other, all receiving a considerable amount of pushback.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain used an AI music video as part of its promotion, too, and its creative director believes the tech is crucial to South Korea's game development scene.
It's good to see Game Science resist all of that in favor of relying purely on human-led creativity.
That said, the suggestion it might become part of the process later is still worrying. One can only hope the negativity surrounding Stellar Blade stemming from the technology's usage will appropriately discourage Game Science.
