Runway AI Ventures into Video Game Creation with New Generative AI Tool

Runway AI's New Tool Will Let You Make Video Games

The startup, whose technology has cropped up in Oscar-nominated films, says that the new tool will allow you to make simple text-based adventures based on prompts. If life got in the way of your game design ambitions, generative AI firm Runway's upcoming tool could be a ray of light. Runway says the new tool, dubbed Game Worlds and slated to drop next week, will allow users to generate functioning video games using text-based prompts and user-provided images. Generative AI has already been widely used within the video game industry, both at the independent and big-budget studio level, appearing in everything from the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops, to helping devs revive old 90s classics like Doom and Quake. But this would be the first time that the gaming-focused text-to-graphics model has been made available to the general public. However, don't expect to be making AAA-quality games right off the bat. According to The Verge, which first reported the news, the tool will initially only allow users to create simple text-based adventures accompanied by pictures, with the capabilities to produce more fleshed-out games to be added later in the year. There are plenty of reasons to take Runway's claims seriously -- its tools are already commonly used throughout Hollywood and the film and TV industry. Runway AI was used to create elements of Everything Everywhere All at Once, an Oscar-nominated comedy-drama from 2022, as well as the Amazon Prime series House of David. Its technology has also popped up in the visuals for music videos from household names like A$AP Rocky and Kanye West. The company's CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela didn't name any names but said his firm is already in talks with gaming companies about using Runway's tools and their datasets. "If we can help a studio make a movie 40 percent faster, then we're probably gonna be able to help developers of games make games faster," he told The Verge. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that we're seeing more and more AI-based game development tools come out. Some of the world's largest companies, including Netflix, Microsoft, and the game publisher Electronic Arts, have all expressed interest in leveraging AI for game development.

Runway now has its sights on the video game industry with its new generative AI platform

The startup will launch its Game Worlds platform next week, according to The Verge. The AI startup Runway, which recently partnered with AMC Networks, is now trying to break into the gaming industry. The company has plans to launch its latest platform, called Game Worlds, next week, according to The Verge. The new tool lets Runway users create something akin to an interactive text-based game that can generate text and images from AI. Even though Game Worlds can only produce basic designs for now, the company's CEO, Cristóbal Valenzuela, is hoping this will be the first step towards more AI use in the gaming industry. Valenzuela told The Verge that "generated video games are coming later this year," adding that Runway is looking to partner with video game companies, which will be able to use the company's AI tools, while it gets access to video game datasets to train its AI on. However, the use of AI in video games has already drawn a lot of criticism from industry professionals, even leading to the SAG-AFTRA union striking against video game companies using its members' likenesses and voices to train AI. Runway has faced its own controversy for reportedly training its AI on YouTube videos and pirated movies despite being against the video platform's terms. Still, Runway is looking to replicate the similar success it's had with major TV and film studios. In the AMC deal, the AI company would help create promotional materials and help "accelerate pre-visualization during development." Before AMC, Runway secured a partnership with Lionsgate to provide its AI for the studio's "pre-production and post-production process." As for the gaming world, Runway wouldn't be the first to introduce generative AI since the industry has seen other examples already, like Ubisoft using a tool called Ghostwriter to create video game dialogue.