AI is one of the emerging technologies that has been taking the world by storm. While the technology is still in its infancy, developers are exploring the possibility of using AI to increase productivity in gaming development.
Ubisoft is one of the companies looking to utilize AI for game development. Developers in the company’s internal studios are reportedly taking advantage of the Generative AI landscape. Ubisoft is reportedly experimenting with AI technology on all levels of game development, saying:
As the world adopts Generative AI at a record pace, GDC 2023 demonstrated its immense potential to profoundly transform creative industries.
Ubisoft is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation, with a strong game technology expertise, over 20 years of proprietary data and assets, and a rich portfolio. Internally, early adoption is fast, with creators and developers of all levels experimenting with the technology and taking advantage of the booming Generative AI landscape. With them, Ubisoft is shaping a responsible framework with talent management and fair use at heart."
The financial report adds, "In parallel, teams are leveraging years-long R&D efforts in AI and Machine Learning applications, especially through La Forge, to identify the best use cases and harness the power of this technology to have a positive impact on creativity, workflows, and players’ experience."
It is interesting to see one of the biggest companies in the gaming industry exploring AI technology in the development of video games. Ubisoft has a good number of subsidiary studios and a lot of manpower working on its upcoming titles and supporting its current lineup of games.
The company may also be looking at a faster turnaround time for the development of its games. With the help of AI, game studios can rapidly design, develop, and test games, making for a shorter development window. It would certainly help Ubisoft financially as more games mean more profit.
AI technologies can also help in improving the quality of games. Technologies such as Midjourney have proven that AI can generate quality images in a short amount of time. AI systems can also be used to improve world-building by making games more reactive to a player’s actions.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said that he expects the use of large language models (LLM), a type of AI algorithm, to continue growing on the creative side of game development. According to Guillemot, LLMS can improve the company’s workflow for game development. He also thinks that it will be easier for gamers "to actually be a part of the creation of events and contents" in the games they play.
"There's a lot coming there, and we also have a lot of data in the company from all our brands that we will be able to take advantage of to create lots of content," Guillemot said. "We've been working a lot on that in the last few years, so it will be good growth coming from that."
We will surely be seeing an increase in the use of AI technologies in the gaming sphere moving forward. While many fear that technologies would replace humans soon, we currently see it as a tool to help in doing the more mundane and repetitive tasks. This frees up developers to work on bigger and better things that will improve games in the future.
