The debate over the use of generative AI tools for game development has raged across the industry for well over a year, and it doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. As with anything related to AI, opinions are often polarized between those who want to take advantage of the new technology to improve games or simply to speed up the ever-growing development times, and others who are revolted at the mere idea of using it for any creative endeavor.
In my most recent interview, Mitchell Patterson, CEO of backend developer Wolfjaw Studios, stressed that AI won't magically make bad developers great, but it will improve already good developers. More importantly, AI could help reduce overhead and, therefore, the ballooning game budgets.
AI is going to make good developers great. It won't make bad developers good. It's only as effective as the understanding you bring to it. We're already using it, and the impact is real. My concern isn't for myself or for Wolfjaw. It's for the pipeline. Almost all the tasks that would have gone to a junior developer two years ago can now be handled by Claude or similar tools. The same is true for QA and localization. I worry about what the entry-level path into this industry looks like in five years.
That said, I've been coming around faster and faster the more it advances. The pitch I've been making for years, that we shouldn't have 5,000 people building a game, we should have 150, AI is now making that genuinely achievable. Smaller, more focused teams partnering with specialists and using AI to reduce overhead: that's the future of game development. I think people will come around to it. AI shouldn't make the game. But it absolutely should be a tool that brings the cost of making a game down, so we can make more of them, faster, and cheaper.
It may be a while until we see the effects such AI tools can have on game development times and budgets. We will keep an eye on the topic and gather more impressions on how generative AI can help (or not) lessen the current woes in game development.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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