Former God of War director of product development, Meghan Morgan Juinio, has recently defended using generative artificial intelligence in game development. Generative AI has been a very controversial topic in game development, and the God of War veteran is the latest person to defend it.
Kratos from God of War
Ever since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, generative AI has become one of the most discussed topics in many fields, including the games industry. Many developers are against using gen AI, but the technology continues to grow and gain more users as time passes.
Former God of War Dev Thinks Devs are ‘Selling Themselves Short’ If They Don’t Embrace Gen AI
In an interview with IGN during the recent Gamescom Asia x Thailand Games Show, Juinio defended using gen AI in game development. According to her, AI is merely a tool that can augment the developer’s capabilities, and if they don’t embrace it, they are selling themselves short. Juinio defended that gen AI is going to evolve whether people are onboard with it or not, so devs may as well use it. She compared the technology to procedurally generated content, pointing to SpeedTree, a popular software that generates trees in real time that has been used for over two decades. However, Juinio explained that while she believes that gen AI is here to stay, it will never rival the “heart and soul” that comes from the human touch, as developers still have to come up with ideas for games.
Juinio could be correct that the technology won’t be abandoned anytime soon. Recent reports have indicated that both Sony and Microsoft are planning to use generative AI in game development, for example, while other publishers such as Nintendo still resist the idea.
The former God of War executive is far from the only person defending gen AI in the games industry. Early in October, for example, a Battlefield 6 executive praised gen AI as “very seducing”. At the time, Rebecka Coutaz, who works as the vice president and general manager of DICE and Criterion Games, stated that the technology was not used to create any final assets in Battlefield 6, but she seemed very positive about its use in early development.
While most developers who do not dislike gen AI defend it as a secondary tool that will help make games, some people want to go even further. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk revealed plans to release a game made by gen AI by the end of 2026. The idea was met with some skepticism, and it remains to be seen how successful the project will be.
