Embark Studios released a bonafide hit in Arc Raiders, and its use of AI was controversial. The studio’s top boss, Patrick Soderlund, was recently promoted to executive chairman of publisher Nexon, and now he’s given a presentation in which he shed more light on the company’s approach to AI in gaming.
“Every company has a plan; most will get it wrong,” he said about how game developers will use AI (via GamesRadar).
He said there is a “race” going on now to find and implement the best AI-based strategies to help developers, but he said the winners “won’t be the first movers.”
“The winners will be the ones who understood the challenge. Think of game development as auto mechanics. The tools are available to everyone, but not everyone has the knowledge and experience to use them. That’s where Nexon is different,” he said.
Soderlund went on to say when he co-founded Embark, the team started with a blank slate and had to make decisions about what needs to be done “by hand” and how technology can help the developers work more efficiently. Some of the solution was AI, Soderlund said, but more than that, he said he encouraged his team to “use smarter processes” in general.
This includes investing in better tools and letting go of longstanding habits “that no longer serve them.”
Embark’s first two games, The Finals and Arc Raiders, were made with “significantly fewer people” and at a “fraction of the cost” of traditional AAA games, he said. “Our success wasn’t an accident–it was deliberate,” he said.
The Finals and Arc Raiders use an AI-based text-to-speech system for situational NPC dialogue. Arc Raiders in particular caught flak for this, and Embark subsequently brought voice actors back to record more lines. Now, Arc Raiders has fewer AI-based voice lines than it did at launch.
Baldur’s Gate 3 voice actor Neil Newbon previously called upon Embark to bring the Arc Raiders actors back to the studio to re-record lines, and that seems to be what the studio ended up doing.
Embark has on multiple occasions already defended its choice to use AI systems in Arc Raiders, stating that “making games without actors isn’t an end goal” and a combination of recorded voice audio and audio generated via text-to-speech tools merely expedited the process.
“People have to take a step back and understand what it is and how it can be a big help to developers and be a tremendous benefit to players. I realize it is an intricate subject and discussion,” Soderlund said previously.
The AI race has also driven up RAM and storage prices, which in turn has created a scenario in which Sony and Microsoft have raised console prices, with Nintendo expected to follow. Beyond this, there are ongoing fears that increases in AI usage could lead to layoffs and other effects. AI issues were also a core concern in the recent video game voice actor strike.
Companies like EA and Microsoft have admitted job losses due to AI are likely to happen, but with increases to the overall job market ultimately coming, just like with previous technological and labor revolutions. No one knows for sure what will happen, but a recent study said most game consumers do not care about AI in their games.
