Though many video game companies like EA andUbisofthave been open about the use ofgenerative AItechnology to help speed up their game development process,Nintendohas gone on record recently as taking a hard line in the opposite direction, with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirming that that the company would not be using this type of AI at all during game development. And his reasoning behind this decision is actually pretty solid.
Why Nintendo says they will not be using generative AI at all when developing new games
IP concerns are at the forefront
Speaking during a Nintendo shareholder Q&A earlier this week, president Furukawa said that generative AI “has issues with intellectual property rights,” and went on to add that the company has, “decades of know-how in creating optimal gaming experiences for our customers, and while we remain flexible in responding to technological developments, we hope to continue to deliver value that is unique to us and cannot be achieved through technology alone.”
Furukawa also acknowledged that this stance applies only to generative AI, as specific AI routines that control things like enemy movements have been used in video games for decades.
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This is a big contrast to other console-makers
Both Sony and Microsoft are using AI right now
This is a sharp contrast with other console-makers, as Microsoft has gone all-in on AI, going as far as to partner with Inworld AI to build AI game dialogue & narrative tools at scale. And though Sony has specifically said that AI is not a substitute for human creativity, CEO Kenichiro Yoshida recently acknowledged that the technology “has been used for creation,” though it is unclear exactly how or in what capacity.
With Nintendo taking the exact opposite view as their industry counterparts, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for video games, and how AI technology influences the next generation of titles, especially as concerns about where generative AI pulls from continue to mount. Will Nintendo’s total ban on the technology help keep its library unique? Or will smart use of this technology by Sony and Microsoft usher in a new golden age of game development?
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