SoftwareAISquare Enix says its new multiplayer party game contains AI-generated art, but don’t sweat it: It’s only ‘about 0.01% or even less’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
SoftwareAISquare Enix says its new multiplayer party game contains AI-generated art, but don’t sweat it: It’s only ‘about 0.01% or even less’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Just a couple weeks after Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu said it intends “to beaggressive in applying AI” to its content creation processes, the company has confirmed withVGCthat its new multiplayer party shooter Foamstars does in fact use AI-generated art—but just a teeny little bit.
Square Enix clarified the use of AI-generated art in Foamstars in a follow-up statement, saying it was used to create the in-game album covers for music used in the game’s soundtrack.
Despite that, there’s a feeling of inevitability to the whole thing. Itdoesn’t have to be(and hopefully won’t be) a complete surrender to the machine, and for now most developers are still dabbling around the edges, but it is happening. Maybe the most obvious acknowledgement of that fact is Valve’s recent course-change: After an initial coolness toward games on Steam that make use of generative AI, Valve updated its policies to explicitly allow “the vast majority of games that use it” to bereleased on Steam. That’s not so much a canary in a coal mine as it is a guy lighting a match while standing amidst a cloud of coal dust.
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The people who called out Wizards of the Coast on the use of AI in its MtG promo image were eventually proven correct, but is this really what we want to do with our time, especially as AI-generated art continues to improve and become more indistinguishable from human creation? Which of course leads into bigger, more long-term questions: It’s all extraneous dabbling now, but can we expect developers to keep AI content to 0.01% of their games if and when AI becomes that good at making it?
We’re not there yet but it’s an issue that all levels of the game industry will have to grapple with at some point. Regulation will only go so far: Both theUSandEUare starting to push toward greater regulation of AI development, but those efforts are primarily focused on safety rather than the deleterious effects of runaway capitalism. Valve’s new Steam policy requires disclosure from developers whose games contain AI-generated content, which is better than nothing, but I’m really starting to suspect that the only thing that’s going to save us is for AI to eventually go the way of3D televisions: An interesting tech curiosity that ultimately fails to live up to the hype and quietly goes away.
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If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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