I’ve taken a habit, recently, to proclaim my desire to explode in lieu of anything more realistically violent I could wish upon myself when I feel stressed. And, in what would likely be more concerning if I were a sentient bomb talking to a bomb diffusal squad, I’ve been saying that a lot lately, primarily because of the copious amounts of AI nonsense I’ve been seeing… everywhere. Epic Games, the ever-boycottable company called Microsoft, the decompiling community, the poison has found its way into everyone’s veins and it’s making me want to, say it with me now, explode! So you can imagine my relief to hear a developer say they don’t think AI will make a massive impact. The developer? Perhaps surprisingly, Konami.
Yes, yes, the same Konami we all rag on for equal parts valid and parasocial (Kojima will never acknowledge you, give it up) reasons. As spotted by Dengeki Online, and translated by Automaton, Konami Digital Entertainment president Hideki Hayakawa shared his thoughts on the rapid paced development of AI technology in the company’s latest integrated report. Hayakawa, apparently, is going against the widespread belief that generative AI will make game development easier with his belief it won’t bring a significant change, noting that “entry barriers have already been lowered by the advancements of generic game engines and the spread of UGC (user generated content).”
He said, “Even if AI use does lead to improvements in production efficiency, I believe that the most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators.” Hayakawa obviously isn’t completely swearing off of it there, but crikey, it sure is refreshing to hear a company head have the tiniest bit of common sense when it comes to this whole debacle. Hayakawa further explained that the “kind of chemical reaction,” that comes from developers with a range of backgrounds working together is “not something that can be easily replaced.”
He did, also, in a very diplomatic fashion, also note that Konami does still want to generally support their developers when it comes to technological advancements. “Even when it comes to epoch-making technological innovations, Konami provides systematic support so that creators can get a grasp of new technologies, properly assess the risks they may bring, and safely apply them to game development,” he said. Translation, it’s always possible his tune changes, but at least there’s something of a priority of getting real people to make games. I’ll take it! My next request is the complete abolishment of AI in its totality. Maybe Konami isn’t so suited for that task just yet.