Generative AI in Practice

12VIDEO GAME DESIGN AND TESTING: THE GENERATIVE AI APPROACH

I wanted to include a chapter on video games because it's something that is a little different and also since there are some really interesting advances happening in this area. Plus, I'm sure a lot of my readers are keen gamers and would be interested to know how games will evolve in the GenAI era. (Hint: we can look forward to more personalized experiences and NPCs [non-player characters] that are capable of proper conversations.)

GenAI will play such a key role in the video game industry that one survey of video game execs found that GenAI is expected to contribute to more than half of video game development within the next 5–10 years – freeing up game designers from the more mundane development work and helping to reduce costs and development time.¹

In addition to helping develop new, better video games, GenAI also has a role to play in quality control and testing of video games. Let's explore both factors, along with some emerging examples from the video game industry. (Alongside, you can read about the impact of GenAI on coding in Chapter 16.)

Generative AI in Video Game Development and Testing

In this age of GenAI, creating video game environments and characters no longer needs to be done painstakingly by hand. GenAI can automate many development tasks, freeing up developers to focus their time on the most impactful aspects of game design.

Plus, as GenAI tools become more sophisticated, it will be possible ...