As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integral to game development, many major studios are implementing it, though not all are willing to disclose its use just yet, according to a Google executive.
In an interview with Mobilegamer.biz, Jack Buser, Google’s global director for games at Google Cloud, highlighted that many studios utilize AI-driven tools to aid in their development processes. However, some remain hesitant to acknowledge this publicly due to concerns about potential backlash.
Buser noted that Google’s tools, such as Gemini and Nano Banana Pro, are employed by several studios to alleviate “the drudgery and repetitive, low-value work” typical in game production. The divisive nature of AI as a topic often leads studios to keep their use of these technologies private.
“What players don’t realize is that many of their favorite games today have already been developed using AI,” Buser explained. “These games have been released. In a survey we conducted around Gamescom last summer, approximately 90% of game developers acknowledged that they are using AI tools.”
“While other surveys from different organizations suggest figures between 40-50%, you might wonder about the difference. This discrepancy stems from the willingness of developers to disclose whether they’re integrating AI in their work,” he remarked.
Buser further suggested that if players understood that AI played a role in the development of the games they cherish, they might be more open to its continued use. “They may begin to see that AI is helping deliver their favorite games more quickly,” he posited. “Additionally, it paves the way for more innovative ideas within the industry. This means rather than waiting seven years for a single game, studios can create multiple titles, acknowledging that only a couple may achieve significant success. Nonetheless, these other games can still be interesting and creative, which wouldn’t have been possible under the traditional model.”
“As this transition continues to unfold—and it already is—public sentiment will begin to shift,” he asserted.
In another part of the interview, Buser highlighted Capcom as an example of a company leveraging Google’s AI tools during the development phase. He stated that Capcom uses these technologies to generate less critical assets, which allows their creative teams to concentrate on the essential components of their games.
“One of their significant challenges is creating expansive worlds that require substantial content,” he elaborated. “The task of conceptualizing every pebble along a path, every blade of grass, coupled with the necessity for countless art reviews, leads to an overwhelming amount of manual work during pre-production.”
“They are utilizing Nano Banana and Gemini to rapidly generate a multitude of concepts, then consulting with Gemini to filter these ideas and identify the most appealing options for the art director,” he added. “From this pool of thousands of suggestions, they can narrow it down to the most visually interesting elements.”
“This means the art director focuses on the filtered and curated items while directing the art team to work on the high-value creative tasks—like characters, major enemies, and key environments,” he noted.
It’s important to highlight that while Capcom has not denied its use of AI in game development, it has stated that it “will not implement any assets” created with generative AI into its games. In a note to shareholders, the company mentioned that it aims to leverage AI technology to “enhance efficiency and productivity in game development,” describing their ongoing trials across various departments, including graphics, sound, and programming.
