CD Projekt Red co-CEO warns AI-generated games are coming but questions their success

CD Projekt Red Sounds Alarm on Fully AI-Generated Games

Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO of CD Projekt Red, has issued a stark warning that fully AI-generated games are coming sooner than many expect. Speaking to Edge's Knowledge newsletter, Nowakowski recounted a conversation with the founder of an AI-focused studio that revealed just how rapidly AI-driven game production could transform the industry 2

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. According to the founder, the studio could create 40 prototypes within a week, narrow them down to five promising games within two weeks, and launch one of them just a week later 1

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. This three-week timeline from concept to launch represents a dramatic acceleration of traditional game development cycles.

Skepticism About Market Flooding Strategy

Despite the technical capability, Nowakowski expressed serious doubts about whether such an approach would prove successful. He questioned if this is the right path for the industry to follow, suggesting that flooding the market with AI-generated products doesn't seem like a winning formula 1

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. The concern centers on AI's potential disruptive impact on game development quality and market dynamics. While AI tools in game development are already widespread—Google's Jack Buser recently claimed that roughly 9 out of 10 game developers are already using AI-powered tools—the leap to fully AI-generated games raises different questions 1

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Platform Saturation and the Discoverability Crisis

For players, the real concern is market saturation and what it means for finding quality content. Steam already struggles with discoverability, and if studios can ship 5 games in 3 weeks using AI tools, that problem gets significantly worse 1

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. Genuinely good games risk getting buried under a mountain of what the gaming community has started calling "AI slop"—a term that captures player frustration with low-quality, algorithmically-generated content flooding digital storefronts 1

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. Epic Games' Tim Sweeney has said that AI integration will become so universal that disclosure requirements are pointless, suggesting an industry trajectory where AI becomes invisible infrastructure 1

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Gaming Community's Resistance to AI Replacing Human Creativity

The relationship between AI and gaming remains deeply contentious. Gamers have passionately rejected AI integration, repeatedly spotting and criticizing studios for using AI-generated assets, voice lines, and artwork on platforms like Reddit and X 2

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. The criticism often revolves around fears of AI replacing human creativity, which many believe is at the very core of game development 2

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. While several studios currently use AI behind the scenes for tasks such as coding, testing, localization, and prototyping games, a fully AI-generated game at scale remains largely unexperienced by players 2

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. If Nowakowski's prediction proves accurate, the conversation around AI in gaming will only intensify in coming years, forcing both developers and platforms to address quality control and player trust.