Sega acknowledges strong resistance to AI but commits to cautious approach in game development

Sega acknowledges "strong resistance" as it turns to AI, but says it'll use technology 'appropriately'

Sega has broached the subject of AI following it latest earnings report, confirming its plans to leverage the technology in development as part of "efficiency improvements". However, it also says it intends to proceed "carefully" in order to identify "appropriate" uses. The company shared its perspective during a Q&A session coinciding with its Q2 earnings report, responding to a question inquiring if it would pursue larger projects or efficiency. "Rather than fully following the trend toward the large-scale development," its executives explained in an official translation, "we will also pursue efficiency improvements, such as leveraging AI." It also acknowledged the "strong resistance" AI adoption can face in "creative areas such as character creation", adding it intends to "proceed by carefully assessing appropriate use cases". It suggested one such area might include "streamlining the development processes" but did not elaborate further. Sega is, of course, far from the only publisher to weigh in on AI in recent times, with some companies being less cautious than others. EA CEO Andrew Wilson, for instance, has boasted AI is "the very core of our business", while Take-Two Interactive boss Strauss Zelnick has taken a more measured approach, calling artificial intelligence an "oxymoron" and saying "no creativity... can exist by definition in any AI model." Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, meanwhile, has compared the technology to "mad cow disease", describing the execs pushing it as "not the most humane or creative people". Even so, a recent Tokyo Games Show survey reported over half of Japanese game companies are using AI in development. One of those studios - Let it Die: Inferno developer Supertrick Games - this week faced the issue head on after receiving significant criticism for its extensive use of generative AI.

SEGA to 'proceed carefully' with AI use, admits gen AI faces 'strong resistance' from creatives

TL;DR: SEGA is cautiously exploring AI to improve game development efficiency but avoids full commitment due to creative resistance and reliance on outsourced teams. Unlike peers embracing generative AI, SEGA prioritizes careful assessment to balance innovation with workforce stability and maintain quality in content production. SEGA is exploring the use of AI in game development to help optimize and streamline workflows, but the company may not be ready to commit to generative AI just yet. Gen AI is here, and games companies are using it in the hopes of reducing costs. Ubisoft, for example, is gung-ho about the new tech, with CEO Yves Guillemot hailing it as the next major revolution after 3D graphics. EA is also using gen AI in its experimental ChatGPT-like prompts, and Microsoft has provided tools like inWorld's gen AI and its own in-house CoPilot to its game developers. Then we have Krafton, the owners of PUBG, saying that they are now an AI-first company. SEGA, on the other hand, isn't fully committing to AI just yet...generative or otherwise. In a recent Q&A with investors, SEGA's leadership says AI could offer efficiencies but they also recognize that the technology faces staunch push-back from creatives. Their approach is one of caution, and rightly so, considering SEGA relies strongly on outsourced content production from third-party "work-for-hire" groups. Rocking the boat and antagonizing your workforce is never a good idea, and becomes a much worse prospect when those workers are fickle creatives. Below we have the quick excerpt from the Q&A with SEGA's execs on the topic of AI use: Q. Game development scales are trending larger. Will you follow this trend toward larger projects, or pursue efficiency? A. Rather than fully following the trend toward the large-scale development, we will also pursue efficiency improvements, such as leveraging AI. However, as AI adoption can face strong resistance in creative areas such as character creation, we will proceed by carefully assessing appropriate use cases, such as streamlining development.