Stellar Blade director and CEO of Shift Up Hyung-tae Kim has said that with out the use of AI, builders in smaller nations will battle to sustain with studios in locations like the U.S. and China.
As first reported by GameMeca, and picked up by Automaton, Kim addressed attendees at South Korea’s 2026 Financial Progress Technique occasion and stated that international locations like China have an amazing benefit due to the sheer quantity of workers it could possibly throw at online game growth.
“We dedicate round 150 folks to a single recreation, however China places in between 1,000 to 2,000. We lack the capability to compete, each in phrases of high quality and quantity of content material,” Kim stated (by way of machine translation).
Utilizing AI won’t end in job losses, Kim insisted, however as an alternative make staff extra beneficial, as “one particular person can carry out the work of 100 folks.” This week, Shift Up gifted its 300 workers an Apple Watch, AirPods Max, and a $3,400 money bonus. A sequel, Stellar Blade 2, is in growth, in addition to Undertaking Spirits, to be printed by Stage Infinite.
AI is, of course, a big subject in gaming proper now, with quite a few corporations pressured to subject statements confirming they haven’t used AI to create video games or the advertising and marketing supplies that promote them. Simply yesterday, January 12, we reported that Nintendo denied allegations that it used AI-generated imagery to promote its new My Mario youngsters’s toy vary, whereas final month, a Fortnite artist was pressured to defend their work after followers recommended quite a few pictures discovered inside the recreation’s new season had been AI-generated, together with a suspicious-looking poster displaying a personality in a hammock with an odd quantity of toes.
In November 17, Murderer’s Creed writer Ubisoft had to take away a picture discovered inside Anno 117: Pax Romana that contained AI-generated parts after followers complained, and Name of Obligation: Black Ops 7 gamers complained about suspected AI-generated pictures that they had discovered throughout the recreation, following a development of AI-Ghibli pictures from earlier this 12 months. The Alters developer, 11 Bit Studios, and Jurassic World Evolution 3 developer, Frontier Developments, have equally confronted fan backlash.
Extra not too long ago, Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian was embroiled in a genAI controversy of its personal following the announcement of its subsequent recreation, Divinity. It’s since pullled again considerably from utilizing the tech.
Opinion on the use of AI in video games continues to divide studios and their followers, with some vehemently towards its use, whereas others declare it is an inevitable half of the future. Rockstar co-founder and former Grand Theft Auto author Dan Houser not too long ago likened AI to mad cow illness, however the CEO of Genvid — the firm behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive collection like Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed “customers usually don’t care” about generative AI in video games, and said that: “Gen Z loves AI slop.”
EA CEO Andrew Wilson has stated AI is “the very core of our enterprise,” and Sq. Enix not too long ago carried out mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it wanted to be “aggressive in making use of AI.” Lifeless Area creator Glen Schofield additionally not too long ago detailed his plans to “repair” the business partially by way of the use of generative AI in recreation growth, and former God of Conflict dev Meghan Morgan Juinio stated: “… if we don’t embrace [AI], I believe we’re promoting ourselves quick.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and guide with 15+ years expertise working with some of the world’s largest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.