Tencent has introduced an AI that aims to significantly simplify game development. Critics fear that many games will soon look the same.
What kind of AI is this? The Chinese company Tencent has presented a project called “GameGen-O”. The goal is to simplify the process of game creation and generate content with AI. Tencent is regarded as the largest Chinese company in the gaming sector and is even considered by many to be the most powerful gaming company in the world.
However, this time it’s not about opponents or graphics generated by an AI, but about the development of a game engine that is to be created by AI. This could ultimately reduce the time needed to develop games.
AI training model uses data from more than 100 open-world games
What exactly does GameGen-O do? GameGen-O is meant to enable the generation of a range of high-quality elements such as characters, dynamic environments, complex plots, and events. This is intended to simplify the game development process, thereby reducing development time and the resources required. This is pointed out by the Polish magazine Gry-Online.pl. The official English GitHub page is currently offline or unreachable.
The training model uses data from “more than 100 next-generation open-world games.” Productions such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Grand Theft Auto V, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla are mentioned. You can get a first impression on YouTube, where the project was presented in more detail:
Faster development and fear of layoffs
What advantages does the AI have? An AI like GameGen-O could significantly speed up the game development process. After all, we are talking about the development of an engine, depending on the project, taking several years.
What concerns are there? Some users fear that many games will become more reproducible and generic. To understand this, you only need to watch the linked video above. In the end, all games look alike or remind one of games on Steam that seem to consist of the same “Unreal Engine” building block set.
However, there are others who see the problem elsewhere: Such AI projects could ultimately put thousands of people out of work who have been involved in the development of new engines or projects for years. Just recently, thousands of people in the USA lost their jobs because they were replaced by an AI: AI is currently making more than 4,000 people unemployed because it can save 20 million euros per year
