Palworld studio's CEO has urged caution with regards to generative AI in game development, even though they think it'll "unavoidably" find its place among game dev.
Speaking to GameSpark recently in a new interview (and translated by Automaton Media), PocketPair CEO Takuro Mizobe was asked for his stance on generative AI in the games industry, and whether the studio itself would utilize it in future game development.
"AI is in a stage of transition. While many regard it as remarkable in terms of technology, it’s also seen as unacceptable from an artistic point of view and because of how machine learning works," Mizobe tells the outlet. The PocketPair CEO also thinks generative AI will "unavoidably" find its place in game development.
It's not very well known, but in 2022 PocketPair actually utilized generative AI in game development for a title called AI: Art Impostor. It's basically a party-based drawing game, played by three to eight people, where your team collaborates on an upcoming art exhibition using AI-generated art.
"AI: Art Impostor is something we made at a time when generative AI seemed like it would take off, which made us go, 'We've got to make a game using this technology!' Personally, I think it ended up being a good game, but we've received various opinions about it," Mizobe commented of the 2022 game. It's worth pointing out that AI: Art Impostor has just a 'Mixed' average user review rating on Steam after 390 reviews.
"What we're making is entertainment, so I don't want us to actively pursue something that’s going to upset people. I want us to maintain a healthy distance from technological advancements," Mizobe concluded.
Palworld's community lead recently stated that the studio never used AI to generate in-game character models, which comes after months of online speculation that PocketPair had utilized generative AI in development. The lead also stated that "no lawsuit ever existed," pouring cold water on theories that The Pokemon Company was previously looking into suing the studio for copying creature designs.
