Despite the use of AI in video games and creative work being one of the hottest debated ethical topics among enthusiasts, consumers generally remain indifferent, according to a former Square Enix executive.
Jacob Navok, Genvid CEO and former Director of Business at Square Enix Holdings, recently chimed in on the debate via X, providing compelling evidence for why this consumer indifference is driving industry change.
Navok cited the success of the Roblox title Steal a Brainrot as a prime example. The game, which features 3D models based on AI slop characters, has been a massive hit among Gen Z gamers, reaching a peak of approximately 30 million concurrent players. This massive popularity signals that the current generation of young gamers doesn't care about the matter, and future generations of gamers will care even less. As Navok put it, quoting The Dark Knight Rises: "You merely adopted the slop, I was born in it."
With the general consumer base largely uninterested in the matter, AI usage in video games is expected to increase significantly. The former Square Enix executive noted that many studios are already using AI generation in the concept phase, and many others are using tools like Claude for code, suggesting it will soon be hard to find an indie studio that isn't leveraging these tools.
While most consumers, especially the younger generation, may not care about AI, how it is used makes all the difference in terms of quality, but perhaps not in terms of sales and revenue.
For instance, Embark Studios utilized AI to enhance the player experience in ARC Raiders by generating additional voice lines while ethically compensating voice actors for their voices to serve as the source material. However, while this represents high-quality integration, it may not outperform the AI slop model in terms of scale. Navok notes that the Roblox game is set to earn significantly more money for longer, making between $80 and $90 million since its release and continuing to be highly popular, hitting a 20 million concurrent players count two weeks in a row this month.
ARC Riders is the prime example of how AI can be used to enhance the experience of a video game, but other implementations can be just as interesting, and far from falling into the AI slop category that is at the center of the current debate. Everstone Studio's Where Winds Meet, for example, features some NPCs powered by AI chatbots, which can lead to a variety of interactions, ranging from appropriate to wildly hilarious. Other games, however, lean more into the category reviled by many, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which replaced real art for its calling cards with AI-generated images that leave a lot to be desired.
Where do you stand in this raging debate? Does AI usage put you off, or are you okay with it as long as the game is fun? Let us know in the comments.
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