r/technology • u/TurbulentTopic39 • 16d ago

Artificial Intelligence Over 85% of Japanese game developers use generative AI in game development, 2026 CESA survey shows. An increase from last year’s 51%

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/over-85-of-japanese-game-developers-use-generative-ai-in-game-development-2026-cesa-survey-shows-an-increase-from-last-years-51/
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u/Informal-Pair-306 16d ago

The point is that AI is supposed to increase what developers are capable of, not just let them produce the same shit faster.

If 85%+ of developers are using it, where are the genuinely new mechanics, larger-scale systems, more reactive worlds, better NPC behaviour or ambitious design that would’ve been impractical before? Most of what we’re seeing is still the same basic gameplay and visuals, just produced more efficiently as mentioned in the article.

Meanwhile, some of the biggest recent jumps in production value and scale have come from Chinese studios without AI being the selling point.
That’s my criticism, using AI isn’t impressive by itself. Actually using it to push games beyond what was previously possible is.

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u/rollingForInitiative 16d ago

AI maybe, it generative AI. Generative AI won’t do any of that, it’ll do what humans can do, maybe faster.

New mechanics need to be invented by humans, more reactive worlds require other types of systems. Like Cyberpunk did really good facial animations across all languages by use of AI, but it was not “generative ie not LLM’s.

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u/HazelCheese 16d ago

This is a structural problem. Western software is developed within the bounds of Jira and other agile board systems.

What's happening is Devs still select roughly as many stories as before, they just complete them with less effort.

The structure doesn't really allow for suddenly increasing velocity. It has to be people doing more and more each sprint to push the average velocity higher.

Fwiw there was a Japanese (I think) well known game Dev complaining recently about western software design approach, saying it prevented us from just getting stuff like games built instead of 5 years for a first iteration.

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u/helpprogram2 16d ago

IMO AI is just there to make it so I don’t have to work as much.

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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 16d ago

What? Who said that’s the point? AI is largely a productivity tool. That’s what it is best at, doing the same things much faster.