Sony says AI development tools will flood gaming market with even more content

Sony says "efficient" AI tools will lead to even more games flooding the market

Anyone following the modern game industry knows that easy-to-use game engines and the accelerating shift to digital distribution have helped enable a massive increase in the quantity of commercial games released each year, both on console storefronts and especially on Steam. Now, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Hideaki Nishino says we should expect the rate of new game releases to accelerate even faster as new AI development tools make it easier for developers big and small to pursue new projects efficiently. In a presentation to investors on Friday, Nishino noted that Sony "expect[s] to see a meaningful increase in the volume and diversity of content available to players" in the near future. That increase is the inevitable result of AI development tools that are "lowering barriers to creation, accelerating development cycles, and enabling more creators to enter the market," he said. By way of evidence, Nishino cited Sony's first-party game development efforts. Gamemakers inside Sony are already using AI tools to "automat[e] repetitive workflows" in areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation, he said. That includes a 3D animation tool called Mockingbird that Nishino said allows Sony artists to convert raw motion capture data into in-game animation much faster. While this tool can't replace the motion-capture actors themselves, it means that "animation work that would have taken hours can now be completed in a fraction of a second," Nishino said. Machine learning tools have also been able to take in "videos of real hairstyles" and apply them to automated animation models that can realistically model "hundreds of strands," replacing the "labor-intensive process" of animators placing those strands individually, Nishino said. Elsewhere in the presentation, Sony Group President and CEO Hiroki Totoki praised the increased "efficiency" enabled by AI tools, saying it would, in turn, lead to "more innovative and ambitious projects -- projects that were previously difficult to pursue due to constraints of cost and time." Totoki also highlighted a pilot partnership with publisher Bandai Namco that "identified massive gains in speed and productivity per person" in video production. While the team has needed to fine-tune generic AI models to prevent problems of "consistency and controllability," Totoki added that these models can, in some cases, help enable "highly sophisticated and realistic outputs which were not feasible before due to production time constraints." Even as AI enables a flood of new game releases, Sony said it believes AI will help players navigate that glut. AI models can already "outperform manual curation" when it comes to suggesting new games players might enjoy, Nishino said, and could soon also suggest "the next gameplay moment, subscription, accessory, or merchandise that best reflects their passion." The human equation Despite Sony's predictions, there isn't necessarily a direct relationship between developer efficiency and the raw number of game releases over a given period. Gains in efficiency could reduce the total number of human developers working on a project, rather than the total time spent on it, for instance. On the other side of things, more efficient development tools could increase the baseline quality expectations for high-end game development, meaning more time is needed to meet that baseline. Despite Sony's bullishness on AI's game development potential, the company stopped well short of suggesting that AI could replace game designers wholesale or make entire games from scratch. Nishino said directly that "AI is meant to augment [developers'] capabilities, not to replace them," and that humans will always be responsible for "the vision, the design, and the emotional impact of our games." Speaking more broadly, Totoki said Sony maintains a "core principle" that "human creativity must remain at the center" of the company's creative efforts. Totoki called AI "an amplifier of human imagination" while saying in practically the same breath that "great content comes from deep personal experiences, unique perspectives, and a strong inner motivation to express something meaningful." At the same time, though, Nishino suggested that Sony's development teams have created "prototypes where NPCs with their own personalities can create a living, dynamic world for the player to explore." It's unclear what role human artists would have in a world where NPCs can have their own AI-generated "personalities," but it would definitely be a far cry from the role they play in game development today.

PlayStation sees AI as a 'powerful tool' to help make games

As part of an earnings presentation on Friday, Sony shared how it's thinking about AI at the company, including many details about how it's evaluating AI as part of making PlayStation games. Generative AI has recently been showing up in bigger games -- though many indie developers still reject it -- and while Sony calls AI a "powerful tool," it says that the "vision, the design, and the emotional impact of our games will always come from the talent of our studios and performers." and that "AI is meant to augment their capabilities, not to replace them." At its own studios, Sony says that developers are "automating repetitive workflows, improving software engineering productivity, and accelerating areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation through new, AI-powered tools." One example is with a tool called "Mockingbird" that can animate 3D facial models using performance capture data, and Sony says that Mockingbird is finishing animation work that previously took hours in "a fraction of a second." The Last of Us creator Naughty Dog and God of War developer Santa Monica Studio are among those that have used the tool, and work from Mockingbird has shown up in titles including Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. However, "we are not replacing human performers, but rather optimizing how we process the data from these live captures," according to Sony. Sony also says that it has partnered with Bandai Namco to "explore how Generative AI and the latest technologies can most effectively contribute to realizing a creator's vision in the realm of video production." Through their "explorations," the companies have identified "massive gains in speed and productivity per person" and opportunities where "AI can produce highly sophisticated and realistic outputs" that otherwise haven't been feasible due to "time constraints." But Sony also notes the "lack of consistency and controllability" as a weakness of generative AI models. As part of its earnings, Sonly also said that PS5 sales dropped by 46 percent year over year following significant price hikes.

Sony and Bandai get into bed with generative AI - Engadget

Sony is partnering with Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. (the parent company of Bandai Namco Entertainment) on a "collaborative pilot initiative" focused on generative AI and its role in the future of video production. AI was a big theme in the company's latest earnings and corporate strategy presentation, with Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki describing the technology as an "amplifier of human imagination and a catalyst for new possibilities," while insisting that it won't replace artists or creators. On the gen AI project with Bandai Namco -- which admittedly sounds quite vague and may well not go anywhere -- Totoki said the companies have seen "massive gains in speed and productivity per person." He also highlighted "a lack of consistency and controllability" as an issue for professionals in the space who demand both of these things in their work, but said AI has allowed those involved in the project to achieve a level of sophistication in production that wasn't previously possible due to time constraints. Given Bandai Namco's association with video games, the fact that Totoki didn't explicitly talk about gaming with regards to the Gen AI project seems a bit odd (then again, it is a thorny topic right now). Sony Interactive Entertainment chief Hideaki Nishino, however, did have a lot to say about how AI in general is being embraced within PlayStation. Nishino said that development cycles -- increasingly generation-spanning in the case of first-party PS5 games -- can be sped up by AI, while "enabling more creators to enter the market." What's more concerning is Nishino's admission that AI will create a "meaningful increase in the volume [...] of content." You know: slop. He added that that his company's studios and IP are committed to ensuring that they only put out "high-quality" games that players come to PlayStation for. Nishino talked about how studios like Naughty Dog and Sony's San Diego Studio have adopted a facial animation tool called Mockingbird, which animates 3D models after they've been through performance capture. AI is also helping with hair animation, with models fed videos of real hairstyles and then outputting images with "hundreds of strands" modeled. "As AI capabilities evolve, the role of our creators will remain unchanged," Nishino said. "The vision, the design, and the emotional impact of our games will always come from the talent of our studios and performers. AI is meant to augment their capabilities, not replace them." AI is also at the heart of the PS5 Pro's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution upscaling tool, which was recently updated to be more effective and is now supported in a large number of third- and first-party games. PSSR is almost certain to be a big theme of the PS6 when that rolls around, but you only have to look at the community's reaction to NVIDIA's unveiling of DLSS 5 to see what happens when AI upscaling gets a bit too ambitious. The other half of Sony's presentation was focused on its gloomy quarterly earnings, in which the company announced a 46 percent downturn in PS5 sales in its fourth fiscal quarter compared to last year. Sony sold just 1.5 million PS5s in the last quarter, and like most large tech companies is currently battling rising costs and memory shortages. The company recently increased the price of its entire console lineup, the second price hike in 12 months.

'We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission' -- PlayStation CEO lays out plan to use AI for future game development

Hideaki Nishino envisions a brighter future for PlayStation with AI in mind Gamers have made it abundantly clear that they have no love for AI being used to generate art in their favorite and upcoming titles. They're also not huge fans of learning that studios are implementing AI into their development process as a whole. On the other end of the argument, several major game publishers/developers fully support the use of AI to assist their teams in their creative efforts. Major AAA gaming companies, such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Square Enix and more, have already applied AI to numerous facets of their game creation endeavors (creating non-playable character dialogue, character movement animations, and physically based rendering materials are among those AI applications). In the case of PlayStation, recent comments from its CEO point to the major console manufacturer and first-party game publisher/developer going all-in on AI to improve its game-making ventures. PlayStation's future game development will incorporate the use of AI During Sony's latest corporate strategy and earnings presentation (as detailed by Variety), Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Hideaki Nishino said AI will play a major role in PlayStation's future. He described AI as "a powerful tool" to help create more immersive gaming experiences for players while also improving efficiency for developers and publishers. Nishino explained that PlayStation Studios is already using AI to automate repetitive tasks, improve software engineering productivity and speed up areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling and animation. One example is an internal tool called "Mockingbird," which rapidly animates 3D facial models using performance-capture data. According to Nishino, tasks that once took hours can now be completed in seconds. Studios including Naughty Dog, San Diego Studio and the team behind Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered are already incorporating AI into their workflows. Nishino also addressed concerns about generative AI replacing creatives, emphasizing that the vision, design and emotional impact of PlayStation games will continue to come from human developers and performers. He said AI is intended to "augment their capabilities, not replace them." The takeaway PlayStation's newly released full-year financial results paint the picture of a gaming company that's doing well, for the most part. As detailed by GamesIndustry.biz, the company has raked in $79.7 billion in net sales for the full year (that includes the 12 months that led up to March 31, 2026). What's less impressive is the company recording a $765 million impairment due to their acquisition of the Bungie studio (makers of Destiny 2 and Marathon) not meeting Sony's expectations. Nishino's comments about AI being used to assist its development studios in streamlining their work are fine. Hopefully, this will lead to those same studios getting more time to create PlayStation's next blockbuster sequels, prequels and brand new IPs. I hope the likes of Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games and Bungie continue creating great games that don't have an ounce of generative AI art. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.

Sony and Bandai Namco announce generative AI collaboration to find how the tech can "effectively contribute to realising a creator's vision"

Sony and Bandai Namco have announced a "collaborative initiative" focused on AI and the latest technologies can aid game development. In a Sony corporate strategy presentation and earnings announcement (per Variety, who first reported the below quotes), coinciding with its 2025/2026 fiscal report, Sony Group president and CEO Hiroki Totoki emphasised that "human creativity must remain at the center," and that the technology is not "a replacement for artists or creators. It is an amplifier of human imagination and [a] catalyst for new possibilities." In the name of this creator-focused AI exploratory expedition, Totoki announced a "collaborative pilot" with Bandai Namco that's focused on gen AI as well as "future technologies". "Through this exploration, we have identified massive gains in speed and productivity per person, as well as how to concretely address the shortcomings of generative AI based on the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the models," Hiroki said. He pointed to a lack of consistency as an example of generative AI's shortcomings, but says the company has accumulated knowledge and expertise in order to bypass this problem by utilising various models and fine tuning to " consistently generate output of intended style with accuracy and cost." Hideaki Nishino , CEO of Sony Entertainment, then took the floor. He reaffirmed that Sony's goal is "always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish", and that the company sees "AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission." Nishino would go on to explain how generative AI is being pushed internally at Sony, being used to automate repetitive workflows, improving productivity, and accelerating quality assurance. He then pointed to one tool being used - Mockingbird - which generates facial animations from captured performance data in substantially less time than required without the tech. Nishino pointed to Naughty Dog (The Last of Us) and San Diego Studio (MLB The Show 2026) as developers using the tool, including on released games. Nishino also revealed that AI-powered payment tools have generated over $700m in incremental revenues over the past few years by efficiently directing payments. Ai has also driven visual fidelity improvements according to Nishino, who claims the machine learning-powered PlayStation's Spectral Super Resolution has been used on the PS5 Pro, to the benefit of recent releases like Saros and Ghost of Yotei. Going forward, Nishino claims the company is looking to build upon work done so far with machine learning technology projects aimed at personalisation, hoping to build a tool that could recommend to players the next game they would enjoy, or accessory they'd like to buy. He notes that with the decrease in barriers to game development AI could cause, the platform's curation and recommendation will become more important. This announcement came alongside a predicted PS5 sales decrease from Sony as part of their 2026/2027 fiscal forecast, caused by memory shortages brought on by the generative AI boom. The company has not decided on a PS6 release date or price yet, and may even "change business models" due to this memory shortage crisis. Nonetheless, the company is clearly bullish on the technology, patenting an AI ghost who can play games for you earlier this year.

PlayStation Boss Embraces AI To 'Unleash Creativity" In Gaming

PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino devoted a surprisingly long portion of his recent Sony earnings presentation remarks to making the case for AI and how it will benefit gaming and the company's bottom line. He was not subtle, and he didn't hedge, laying out an ambitious vision that sees AI tools incorporated everywhere from the PlayStation Store to how Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games render characters' hair. "We believe AI will unleash the creativity of our studios, power a more curated platform, and enhance the PlayStation experience for both players and creators," he said. Nishino made the case that generative AI and LLM technology can make the company more efficient and cut out menial work that plagues creatives at various levels of the development process. "For example, our teams created a tool we call Mockingbird that quickly animates 3D facial model based on the performance capture," he said. "Importantly, we are not replacing human performers, but rather optimizing how we process the data from these live captures. With Mockingbird, animation work that would have taken hours can now be completed in a fraction of a second." He continued: We’ve already seen the teams at Naughty Dog, San Diego Studio, and others adapt our tools, including in released titles like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Another example is the tool we built for animating hair," he added. "This is often a labor-intensive process given the volume of strands that must be created. Our teams have accelerated this process by taking videos of real hairstyles and having an AI tool output a 3D model with hundreds of strand models. These practical applications allow our teams to spend less time on manual, high-effort task, and to instead reinvest their time into building richer worlds and gameplay for our players. The executive also pointed to AI-powered racing agents in Gran Turismo and recent experiments with "NPCs with their own personalities can create a living, dynamic world for the players to explore." He may have been alluding to leaked prototype footage of a generative AI version of Horizon Zero Dawn's protagonist, Aloy, who could have unscripted conversations with the player. The experiment prompted Ashly Burch, who plays Aloy, to say she was "worried about game performance as an art form.†While touting the benefits of AI for everything from routing PlayStation Store payments more effectively to increasing visual fidelity with features like PSSR on the PS5 Pro, Nishino also hinted at a somewhat more dystopic future for the platform. "We expect to see a meaningful increase in the volume and diversity of the content available to the players," he said. "Our platform’s role will be critical in ensuring players find the right content in an increasingly crowded landscape. Our studios and their IP will also continue to be a key differentiator." The PlayStation Store is already overrun with shovelware and AI slop listings attempting to cash in on recent Steam hits. It's unclear whether AI can be used to solve that problem or will only make it 10x worse. Nishino also pointed to a future where AI can tell players what to buy. "Our AI capabilities will evolve into a consumer-centric experience that not only suggests the next game a player might enjoy, but also the next gameplay moment, subscription, accessory, or merchandise that best reflects their passion," he claimed. This is the same AI technology, by the way, that is currently making console gaming less affordable than ever. Sony recently hiked the price of the PS5 by $100 due to ongoing economic pressures, including AI-fueled shortages of RAM and other PC components. During this same earnings call, the company even said that its forecast for how many new PS5s it can sell in its coming fiscal year is constrained not by consumer demand but by its ability to source affordable parts. Therein lies part of the paradox of AI for Sony. Nishino is heralding it as a helpful tool for addressing the current crisis facing console gaming. Namely, that budgets for AAA blockbuster games, led by first-party studios like Sony's, have exploded as they chase ever higher visual fidelity, even as the install base for the platforms has stagnated. AI could be a magic bullet to help companies improve graphics while streamlining game development costs, while also expanding the audience for gaming through better discoverability and accessibility. Or this could all just be wishful thinking. "We believe AI will unleash the creativity of our studios, power a more curated platform, and enhance the PlayStation experience for both players and creators," Nishino said. "With our global player base, deep library of IP, and integrated ecosystem, AI is a powerful tool for us to deliver a truly cutting-edge entertainment experience."

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered used PlayStation's new AI animation tool, and Naughty Dog and San Diego Studio are both following suit

"Animation work that would have taken hours can now be completed in a fraction of a second" Sony's latest financial report is in, and would you believe it? The company is keen to tell investors just how much its business is going to be improved by AI. PlayStation is just one part of the larger Sony business, but sluggish PS5 sales and big losses around Marathon and Bungie are having their effects. Don't worry, though - PlayStation's investment in AI is going to make it all better, and we've gotten some specifics about how the tech is being used in games like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. "At PlayStation, our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish," according to Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino, whose statements during the earnings call were transcribed by Yahoo Finance. "We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission." Those are pretty standard vagaries about AI, but Nishino did offer some specifics. Notably, he says, "game developers are automating repetitive workloads, improving software engineering productivity, and accelerating areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animations through new AI-powered tools." That includes an animation tool called Mockingbird, which "quickly animates 3D facial model based on the performance capture." Nishino emphasizes that this is not a replacement for human performers, but it optimizes "how we process the data from these live captures. With Mockingbird, animation work that would have taken hours can now be completed in a fraction of a second." This isn't purely theoretical, either. "We have already seen the teams at Naughty Dog, San Diego Studio, and other adopt the tool, including in released titles like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered," Nishino explains. While the stink of purely AI-generated content looms large, this is - in theory - the kind of thing AI is actually useful for, helping to automate tedious tasks so that developers can focus their attention on more creative work. That's why you won't find an AI disclosure on Horizon's Steam store page, as Valve doesn't require devs to be up front about "efficiency gains" from AI, as opposed to fully AI-generated content. Nishino also cites the machine learning-driven PSSR upscaling tech available on PS5 Pro as another example of AI wins, offering improved resolution and performance for games like Saros and Ghost of Yotei. And, more broadly, he says players will get "more immersion, more adventures, and fresh ways to enjoy their favorite characters" thanks to the emerging tech. Simultaneously, AI will offer publishers a "more efficient production environment and a better discovery to ensure their games reach the right audience." Of course, the reality of these assertions remains to be seen. The biggest effect AI has had on the gaming world so far is making consoles and PCs dramatically more expensive, as data centers gobble up RAM in absurd volumes. That's not Sony's fault or responsibility, of course, but the notion that the tech pushing the game industry's head underwater is the same thing that will save it from drowning is difficult to reckon with in the short term.

PlayStation is already prepping us for more AI in first-party game development | Stuff

Sony has detailed some of its plans to use more AI in first-party PlayStation game development, calling it a "powerful tool" but also promising "human creativity" will continue to take centre stage. In comments that sound like the beginning of a creeping influence that will eventually undermine the role of human creators, Sony promised AI will only amplify human creation rather than replace it. Speaking at the company's latest earnings call (via Variety), Sony Group president and CEO Totoki Hiroki said: "Human creativity must remain at the centre. AI is a powerful tool, but is not a replacement for artists or creators. It is an amplifier of human imagination and catalyst for new possibilities." Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Nishino Hideaki picked up where his C-Suite colleague left off. "Our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish," Nishino said. "We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission." The boss said the key gains will be in efficiency, allowing studios to push creative boundaries while staying within budget. Essentially, it'll automate tasks that otherwise take forever. One example Sony is floating is a new hair animation tool that can render video footage of hair into 3D models. "These practical applications allow our teams to spend less time on manual, high-effort tasks and to instead reinvest their time into building richer worlds and gameplay for our players," Nishino said. He added: "As AI capabilities evolve, the role of our creators will remain unchanged. The vision, the design, and the emotional impact of our games will always come from the talent of our studios and performers. AI is meant to augment their capabilities, not to replace them."

Sony Becomes Biggest Publisher to Openly Embrace AI in Game Development, Just Months After Larian's Backlash

Alongside the earnings report, Sony today is revealing a wide-ranging generative AI strategy built around a single guiding principle: AI augments human creativity; it doesn't replace it. Speaking at the FY25 earnings presentation, Sony Group CEO Hiroki Totoki said: Human creativity must remain at the center. AI is a powerful tool, but is not a replacement for artists or creators. It is an amplifier of human imagination and catalyst for new possibilities. Sony Pictures has already invested more than $50 million in AI capabilities covering production planning, content protection, enterprise productivity, data analytics, innovation, and 3D conversion. Sony Music is pursuing an industry-wide standard for labeling AI-generated content, aiming to provide transparency to consumers while protecting IP rights with licensing partners. Today, Sony also announced a collaborative initiative with Bandai Namco to explore generative AI in video production. The two companies have already identified "massive gains in speed and productivity per person" and have surfaced key weaknesses: current models lack consistency and controllability, which creators require. Sony has developed workarounds using fine-tuned models built on proprietary data to generate reliable, stylistically accurate output at commercially viable costs. Our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish. We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission. Sony might be the biggest game publisher to openly adopt AI tools in game development. There's been a lot of talk in the industry recently about the subject, especially after the backlash Larian Studios faced when it revealed how it was using AI for its upcoming game, Divinity. The studio then announced that it will not use AI-powered concept art during game development, but will still use the technology in other areas. That's essentially what CAPCOM admitted in late March. After all, every developer and publisher is looking for ways to make their work more efficient, and AI tools show great promise in that regard.

'Not a Replacement for Artists or Creators': PlayStation Reveals AI Use, Says Studios Like Naughty Dog Already Working With Tools

Sony has detailed its strategy for using AI tools in game development, while stating that "human creativity must remain at the center" of PlayStation's creative efforts. Speaking today during an investor-focused results presentation, via Variety, Sony boss Totoki Hiroki dubbed AI as "a powerful tool, but not a replacement for artists or creators," while detailing how AI was being used within PlayStation's studios. One example of this is Mockingbird, an AI-powered tool that generates character animation from facial gestures recorded during performance capture. The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog and MLB The Show maker San Diego Studio were already using these kinds of tools, PlayStation boss Hideaki Nishino said. Separately, Nishino discussed how Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered had used another AI tool to model the hair of main character Aloy. Video footage of real-world hairstyles was converted into a detailed 3D model using the tool, slashing the time it would have taken to build such models by hand. Nishino also mentioned the use of AI to improve PS5 Pro visual fidelity, via the console's well-documented PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) technology, which allows for better visuals at improved frame rates. "Our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish," Nishino said. "We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission." Less excitingly, though still worth noting, Nishino claimed PlayStation had used AI-powered payment routing to generate an additional $700 million in revenue over recent years, simply by routing transactions over different payment networks. Machine-learning is also being used to build personalized purchasing suggestions, recommending games, subscriptions or merchandise to the fans most likely to buy them. Beyond video games, Sony said it was similarly using AI tools for more menial tasks rather than direct content ideation, such as in legal content protection and 3D conversion of film footage within Sony Pictures. As part of the same investor briefing, Sony said it was yet to decide when to launch the PlayStation 6, nor how much it will cost, as memory shortages continue to hit hard. The company also revealed it had been forced to take a $765 million impairment loss due to underperformance of Marathon developer Bungie during its last financial year.