As part of Capcom’s latest earnings briefing, the company disclosed how it’s planning to implement generative AI into its work processes, and the short answer is the Resident Evil company sees a lot of potential.
On a slide labeled “growth strategy,” Capcom said it will utilize AI to “improve development efficiency and productivity.” It labeled AI as a “tool to streamline routine tasks” so developers can have more time to dedicate to “creative work.”
Capcom said some of the areas of its business that can be made more efficient with AI include research, draft generation, user analysis, interactive manuals, error checks, and meeting notes. The aim is to implement AI systems for these “routine tasks” to free up time that can be invested in “true value creation” and creative work, Capcom said.
The Japanese publisher also plans to continue to hire more people, at a pace of over 100 new hires annually as part of an effort to create “a workplace where diverse talent thrives.” The plan for the current fiscal year is to increase its workforce by 6%. Analyst Daniel Ahmad said Capcom disclosing its plans for generative AI is no surprise, as “all your faves are using genAI in some capacity.”
Investor reports like these are meant to be seen by analysts, investors, and other players in the markets and investment spaces, so it’s hardly a surprise to see so much chatter about the positive potential for generative AI. The technology remains controversial, however, as there is pushback from players. At the same time, data shows that people generally do not care about, or accept the inevitability, of the use of AI further proliferating in game development.
It was a banner year for Capcom, as the investor report also confirmed that the company sold more games during the past year (59.07 million) than any other 12-month period in its history, thanks in part to strong sales of Resident Evil Requiem (via VGC). That game sold 6.91 million copies through March 31.