The question of AI’s impact on their own development practices and the external use of the technology by people infringing on copyrighted material are becoming major topics of concern for many game studios. With Konami releasing its financial statement today, the company used the opportunity to provide its thoughts on the topic.
It’s possible that investor excitement for the technology would make the company feel obligated to address the seismic shifts the industry is facing due to AI, as well as any potential use cases it may have for Konami itself, in its latest the financial report. Notably, the statement focuses on the idea that, no matter the advancements in AI or its capabilities, certain things integral to game development can’t be replaced by technology.
“Generally, it’s thought that AI will allow anyone to easily make games, thus lowering the barrier to entry,” says Hideki Hayakawa, representative director and president at Konami Digital Entertainment. “However, I do not believe the market will shift significantly. Barriers to entry have already been lowered by the growth of general-purpose game engines and the growth of user-generated content in games. Also, even if using AI leads to greater efficiency, I believe the most important factor in developing interesting and innovative games is people, specifically creators. Not only that, creators form ‘teams’ to develop games, and within that, people from diverse backgrounds exchange and bring together ideas to create never-before-seen new games that expand the potential of gaming. This kind of interaction cannot be replaced easily.”
While this doesn’t entirely rule out the company using AI, as the report notes at the same time that the technology presents a “notable opportunity” and could support developers in some ways, Konami remains cautious in researching it while slowly providing guidance to its teams on guardrails and protocols for whether it is to be used. The statement also mirrors that of other studios like Sega, though Konami emphasizes the idea of players and developers coming together in order to have the most fun with a gaming experience, which an AI experience catered solely to the person making it, no matter its quality, cannot offer.
This emphasis on user-generated content may simply be because the studio is currently developing its own alternative to Roblox with Wai Wai World Craft. In any case, it’s notable to see the studio stepping away from a full embrace of the technology.