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CD Projekt Red's joint CEO Michał Nowakowski thinks fully AI-generated games are on the way, but being partly in charge of the company behind The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2077, he's not convinced game prompters using generative AI are on the right path.
Speaking to Edge's Knowledge newsletter, Nowakowski mentioned that he "knows for a fact" that games 'made' entirely with generative AI are coming because he's actually had a few chats with AI-based studios.
"I was in a conversation with a person who started a studio and was telling me: 'I'm running a primarily AI-based studio. I can have 40 prototypes within a week, two weeks from now I can have five games that I chose are going to be the best and, three weeks from now, I'm actually launching a game'," Nowakowski recalls. "Maybe that's going to be successful, but I have some doubts whether this is really the path to follow."
The CD Projekt Red executive didn't delve into where his doubts stem from exactly, but elsewhere in the interview, he talked about how the "fight for attention is tougher than it ever was" thanks to the thousands of games that come out every single year - not to mention the films, shows, social media algorithms, and more fighting for our time.
Putting games in front of an audience won't get any easier with the growing amount of games hitting shelves, he continues, "but as long as you have a fresh idea, with a soul, with legs, you should have a genuine shot at being successful." Making a soulful game stand out in a crowd is probably much easier when it's not being prompted by an algorithm, I think.
GamesRadar's Austin Wood recently spoke to over 30 game developers about AI, many of whom pointed to ethical concerns around the tech. It's impact on workers, junior positions, artists whose work are being scraped, legal issues, environmental concerns are just some of the reasons why game devs are raising an eyebrow or two.
