Game developers should embrace generative AI, according to The Witcher 3 game director Konrad Tomsazkiewicz. He said this in a new interview in which he also confirmed his upcoming new game, The Blood of Dawnwalker, used generative AI early in the process, but no AI-generated assets should be in the final game. He also said his studio Rebel Wolves wants to use AI to help support its existing workers, not replace them.
During a discussion attended by Eurogamer, Tomsazkiewic said Rebel Wolves used generative AI to create voices in the game "in the early stage" of development. He said an RPG like The Blood of Dawnwalker requires its developer to support multiple different languages, and this is "costly" and changes after initial recording can be "really expensive." Rebel Wolves utilized generative AI to hear NPC voices early in the development process to help team members determine if something is working or not.
If Rebel Wolves used real human voices at this early stage of development, and then realized a change was needed, that would be "really expensive" and not efficient game development, creating new pressure on the team, Tomsazkiewicz said.
"That's why we use these kinds of tools from the beginning to do an iteration of the story, and when we are sure that we are there where we want to [be], we remove all those voices and record everything with the actors," he explained.
Tomsazkiewicz went on to say he believes other game developers should also embrace AI, but only "in a way which helps people to work, not replace the people." He said that in addition to using AI for voice work, the studio's QA teams can see benefits from using the technology to spot bugs while they go off and actually play the game like a player would to determine if it's fun or if combat could be improved.
Offloading the more mundane tasks of game development, with human oversight, helps a studio like Rebel Wolves make a better game overall, Tomsazkiewicz said.
"My approach is I feel that we should use AI to help our people to work and take from them these tasks which are annoying and frustrating and allow them to do this more fun work, which is needed, actually," he said. "And this is what I think about it. It should make our life easier but it shouldn't replace people at all. It's like you can take a stone to put the nail into the board or you can use the hammer--it should work like this."
Rebel Wolves co-founder Tomasz Tinc, meanwhile, said he wanted to make it "1000% clear" that while the studio used generative AI systems, "nothing that's in The Blood of Dawnwalker was created using generative AI."
"People with their blood and flesh made this game from the beginning till the end," he said.
The developers of Crimson Desert and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 used generative AI in their processes as well, and fans discovered AI-generated assets like a six-legged horse in Crimson Desert, while Expedition 33 was stripped of a Game of the Year award for this. The developers of both titles said the AI content was never meant to be shipped in the public release, apologizing for the gaffe and removing the content in post-release updates.
The topic of AI in gaming--and the world at large--has been controversial and debated, and it's likely to remain that way. In addition to a fear of job losses, the AI craze has led to memory and chip shortages which have had many downstream effects like price hikes on popular consoles. There are also fears that advancements to AI will only further concentrate wealth to a small group of people.
The Blood of Dawnwalker releases on September 3 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. For more, check out the PC system requirements and read why the developers believe the game couldn't be made at another studio.
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During a discussion attended by Eurogamer, Tomsazkiewic said Rebel Wolves used generative AI to create voices in the game "in the early stage" of development. He said an RPG like The Blood of Dawnwalker requires its developer to support multiple different languages, and this is "costly" and changes after initial recording can be "really expensive." Rebel Wolves utilized generative AI to hear NPC voices early in the development process to help team members determine if something is working or not.
If Rebel Wolves used real human voices at this early stage of development, and then realized a change was needed, that would be "really expensive" and not efficient game development, creating new pressure on the team, Tomsazkiewicz said.
"That's why we use these kinds of tools from the beginning to do an iteration of the story, and when we are sure that we are there where we want to [be], we remove all those voices and record everything with the actors," he explained.
Tomsazkiewicz went on to say he believes other game developers should also embrace AI, but only "in a way which helps people to work, not replace the people." He said that in addition to using AI for voice work, the studio's QA teams can see benefits from using the technology to spot bugs while they go off and actually play the game like a player would to determine if it's fun or if combat could be improved.
Offloading the more mundane tasks of game development, with human oversight, helps a studio like Rebel Wolves make a better game overall, Tomsazkiewicz said.
"My approach is I feel that we should use AI to help our people to work and take from them these tasks which are annoying and frustrating and allow them to do this more fun work, which is needed, actually," he said. "And this is what I think about it. It should make our life easier but it shouldn't replace people at all. It's like you can take a stone to put the nail into the board or you can use the hammer--it should work like this."
Rebel Wolves co-founder Tomasz Tinc, meanwhile, said he wanted to make it "1000% clear" that while the studio used generative AI systems, "nothing that's in The Blood of Dawnwalker was created using generative AI."
"People with their blood and flesh made this game from the beginning till the end," he said.
The developers of Crimson Desert and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 used generative AI in their processes as well, and fans discovered AI-generated assets like a six-legged horse in Crimson Desert, while Expedition 33 was stripped of a Game of the Year award for this. The developers of both titles said the AI content was never meant to be shipped in the public release, apologizing for the gaffe and removing the content in post-release updates.
The topic of AI in gaming--and the world at large--has been controversial and debated, and it's likely to remain that way. In addition to a fear of job losses, the AI craze has led to memory and chip shortages which have had many downstream effects like price hikes on popular consoles. There are also fears that advancements to AI will only further concentrate wealth to a small group of people.
The Blood of Dawnwalker releases on September 3 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. For more, check out the PC system requirements and read why the developers believe the game couldn't be made at another studio.
Source