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There’s no telling what the role of generative AI in game development will look like in the future, but if there’s anyone who can predict that trajectory with any sense of authority, it’s a team of veterans with more than 100 years of experience leading some of the most beloved franchises of all time.
I’m referring to Square Enix veterans and JRPG architects Yoshinori Kitase, Hiromichi Tanaka, and Koichi Ishii, who were instrumental in the conception and general direction of the Final Fantasy and Mana series. The trio recently sat down with Famitsu (via Automaton) for Mana’s 35th anniversary and to talk about the future of AI in game development. While their insights and predictions aren’t exactly the hottest of takes, it’s always worth paying attention when developers of their caliber are willing to share insights into such a hot button issue.
Essentially, the JRPG veterans believe AI is and will continue to make it easier to make games, but they’re cautioning against the idea of AI-generated concepts for games, which they say humans will always be essential in creating. “Humans need to be involved in the initial step of turning zero into one. That will never change,” Kitase says. “The next generation of creators absolutely needs the ability to turn zero into one.”
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Agreeing with Kitase, Tanaka says the games industry will keep trending toward a “competition of ideas” in which humans come up with the initial concept while AI helps streamline development processes.
The prevalence of AI in game development is one of the major factors fueling an ongoing layoff crisis in the industry as companies replace human workers with AI particularly for non-creative tasks like routine coding, QA, and debugging. Adding on to his previous statement, Kitase says relegating menial tasks to machines will help humans focus on the soul of the game.
“During the process of turning one into a hundred, if we can improve efficiency by supplementing traditional human work with support from AI and game engines, I think people will be able to focus more on that initial stage of turning zero into one,” he says.
Echoing his peers, Ishii is optimistic about AI’s potential for prototyping and testing, but agreed that there will always be a demand for human-centric design. “If AI does everything on its own, the result might be polished, but it could end up feeling like it’s missing human warmth,” he says.