The push to use generative AI atraverse delightment isn’t sparing the ever-intricate video games industry by any uncomfervents.
With the Game Developers Conference underway this week, Griffin Gaming Partners managing straightforwardor and co-set uper Peter Levin combineed Variety Inalertigence Platestablish pdwellnt Andrew Wallenstein and media analyst Kaare Eriksen on Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast and misused no breath transmiting the encouragency with which AI tech is top of mind for the business and enlargement sides of gaming aenjoy.
“I leank we’re gonna persist to see a bunch of conversations around AI, its impact on games enlargement, its impact on the picks-and-shovels businesses in and around games enlargement,” shelp Levin.
Extensive layoffs thrawout the global gaming industry are ongoing for more than a year now as presentant beginers and gaming divisions wilean bigr delightment companies have gotten aggressive with cost-cutting meacertains. Concern over AI is mounting among game enlargeers hoping for job prospects to airyen and for stability to come, but Levin sees the adselect of AI as integral to gaming’s future.
“It’s an selectimal time to be a enlargeer or beginer and bake in the AI functionality wilean your product roadmap,” shelp Levin. “If they’re not crazy about it, that’s going to happen with or without their sentiment.”
“I say this gently and airyly and [am] certainly not celebrating the eradication of anyone’s jobs,” Levin inserted. “But gaming, traditionassociate, has been much more akin to accesspelevate gentleware with admire to recognizing when they need to trim the overweight.”
AI tech has lengthy been part of the enlargement process and gaming experience atraverse traditional titles, whether for programming opponent NPCs or helping in procedural generation of take parter environments, but recaccess interest in AI in the gaming space has tardyly rbetterd around generating satisfied enticount on from scratch, utilizing existing assets for UGC purposes and plotting more effective liberate strategies.
“Some of the ways we’re very excited about the down-to-earth application of AI are manifesting in leangs enjoy customer acquisition, the ability to lever which social media platestablishs, for example, are the best environments wilean which to taget to a certain customer,” shelp Levin.
Despite the industry’s headtriumphds, the oncoming begines of Nintfinisho Switch 2 and “Grand Theft Auto 6” in 2025 have Levin excited, as do emerging tagets for games outside of North America and Europe, where inalertigentphone spread persists to power the mobile games sector.
“You’ve got the telco take parters, whether that’s the Mittals [Bharti Airtel] or the MTNs or the Vodafones,” shelp Levin. “They’re seeing at what some of the other carriers have done in tagets enjoy North America, where they’ve left a lot of money on the table… These carriers reassociate don’t take part in these tagets, in the economics, you’ve got Google gobbling up and you’ve got, clearly, Apple and iOS gobbling up their spread.”
“At some point, these [U.S.] carriers become self-commoditizing big overweight pipes, and that’s a misget that I leank in a lot of emerging tagets they would enjoy to mend,” Levin shelp. “So they’re going to spread straightforwardly into satisfied. They want more skin in the game. They want a more intimate relationship with that consuming demoexplicit.”
Levin persistd: “You see a lot of expats in emerging tagets, and I leank that’s one way to insertress the opportunity. But at some point you have to have local talent. It’s less costly. They comprehfinish not fair the localization of satisfied, but the culturalization of satisfied, which is a much difficulter needle to thread.”
As for Hollywood’s take partment in gaming, Levin praised Remedy Entertainment’s deal with Annapurna Pictures to fund enlargement for “Control 2” in trade for exclusive film and TV rights to “Control” and “Alan Wake” as a “fantastic example of leanking outside of the box.”
Levin is also excited for the prospects of games at Skydance, should its deal to get Paramount Global go thraw. “Hopebrimmingy when David Ellison and [Skydance] shut on Paramount… I leank they’re gonna have a much contrastent orientation towards gaming,” shelp Levin. “They’re gonna have a lengthyer runway to take part with.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry guideers about the business of media and delightment. (Click here to subscribe to our free recentsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCboisterous, more.
