AI in gaming: Developers worried by generative tech

It’s a view echoed by Chris Knowles, a former senior engine developer at UK gaming firm Jagex, known for its Runescape title.

“If you’re going to have to hire actual human artists to fix the output, why not harness their creativity and make something new that connects with players?” he says.

Chris, who now runs UK indie studio Sidequest Ninja, says that in his experience smaller developers are generally unenthusiastic about using generative AI.

One of his concerns is around cloned games.

Online game stores – where indie developers make most of their sales – are rife with imitations of original titles.

This is especially true of mobile games, says Chris, and there are studios set up “entirely to churn out clones”.

It’s not yet possible to rip off a whole game using AI, he says, but copying assets such as artwork is easily done.

“Anything that makes the clone studios’ business model even cheaper and quicker makes the difficult task of running a financially sustainable indie studio even harder,” says Chris.

He also points to the huge amounts of electricity required to run generative AI systems as a big concern.