[Update: Discussion online indicates the machine translation for the following story doesn’t accurately convey Masahiro Sakurai’s tone in the interview. Native speakers suggest he is discussing the direction of the gaming industry and its large-scale game development methods negatively, and thus his discussion of the topic is to be read in a disapproving or saddened way, it is not an endorsement. The original story follows.]
The iconic Japanese video game director Masahiro Sakurai recently did an interview in which he discusses the challenges facing modern game development, especially on large scales. When asked specifically about how the future of the game market looks to him, Sakurai said he believes “the only effective breakthrough” to sustainably produce games on a massive scales “is generative AI.” Please note that all translations used in this article are machine translated, but appear to be accurate according to a Japanese speaker on ResetEra.
He elaborates further that he believes “we must change our scheme […] by using generative AI to improve work efficiency” when creating such large games. For greater context of his words, here’s Sakurai’s full machine translated answer to the question “how do you see the future of the game market?”
To be honest, it’s a bit of a long shot. I think we have come to a situation where it is not sustainable to try to produce games on the large scale that we currently do, because it is too much work. I feel that we cannot continue like this, but the only effective breakthrough I can think of at this point is generative AI. I feel that we are now at a stage where we must change our scheme, for example, by using generative AI to improve work efficiency. And I believe that only those companies that can successfully respond to such changes will be able to survive.
Whilst vague, his answer is sure to be divisive given that generative AI is such a hotly debated topic within the gaming industry. Whilst some see the use of generative AI to be a tool capable of saving time, others see the practice as replacing human artists by using (without consent) the works of other artists for their algorithms.
What do you make of Masahira Sakurai’s quote, and the future of generative AI in the gaming industry? Sound off in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news and industry coverage.
