A Year of Turbulence: The Games Industry's Complex Relationship with AI

The games industry's headlines in 2025 were dominated by the impact of AI. With barely a week passing without a story on the tech's applications and implications, its influence is expected to continue into 2026. Unlike other trends like NFTs and the metaverse, which quickly rose and fell, AI has permeated every aspect of the tech industry and shows no signs of slowing down. According to Sam Altman, ChatGPT boasts 800 million weekly active users, and AI has become integral to internet search algorithms and numerous other applications, including toys, albeit with mixed results. However, AI is also a deeply divisive technology, with proponents in the games industry highlighting its potential to streamline processes, enhance efficiencies, and foster new ideas, while critics raise ethical concerns about training data, energy consumption, job security, particularly in QA and art, and the threat it poses to the craft of game development. Throughout the year, GI's contributing editor Rob Fahey has provided insightful commentary on AI, including its legal implications, potential to accelerate development, impact on hiring, and the devaluation of premium games through AI-generated assets. Companies like Atelico, Uthana, and Razer have been at the forefront of AI adoption, with Atelico launching its AI Engine and securing $5 million to build an AI-first games studio, Uthana raising $4.3 million to revolutionize 3D character animation with generative AI, and Razer collaborating with Side on a large-scale playtesting platform that utilizes AI to eliminate duplicate bug reports. Major games companies, including Roblox and Krafton, have also championed AI, with Roblox unveiling a suite of generative AI-powered tools at its developers' conference and Krafton repositioning itself as an AI-first company. Nonetheless, not all studios under these companies are embracing AI. For instance, Neon Giant, a Krafton-owned studio, has expressed its independence in game development, emphasizing its pride in traditional game-making methods. Other industry leaders, such as Nexon CEO Junghun Lee and Epic Games, have expressed their commitment to AI, with Lee stating that every game company is likely using AI and Epic Games introducing AI-voiced characters and defending the use of AI in game development. However, other CEOs, like Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two Interactive and Phil Rogers of Embracer, have offered more nuanced views, acknowledging AI's potential while emphasizing the importance of human authorship and ethical implementation. The use of AI in QA testing has been a significant area of transformation, with many firms offering AI-driven solutions that could replace or augment human roles. While some, like Testronic's CEO Sharon Baylay-Bell, believe AI won't completely replace humans in areas like localization due to its inability to grasp emotion, tone, and cultural nuances, others have seen roles allegedly lost to AI. The year was also marked by controversy over AI-generated voices, with actors and unions expressing concerns about the technology's impact on their work. Despite these challenges, the use of AI in game development is expected to continue, with studies showing that 7% of games on Steam now declare the use of generative AI, up from 1.1% the previous year, and 87% of developers using AI agents in their workflows. As the industry moves into 2026, public perception of AI in PC and console games remains largely negative, with players pushing back against perceived uses of AI in games like Jurassic World Evolution 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. The year ended with a significant controversy after Larian CEO Swen Vincke clarified the studio's use of AI, stating it was only for early ideation stages and not for replacing concept artists. The US Copyright Office has also weighed in, stating that generative AI outputs cannot be protected by copyright unless an author or artist contributes to the creative process. As the games industry navigates the complex landscape of AI, it is clear that the technology's impact will be profound, but its adoption must be approached with careful consideration of its ethical, creative, and employment implications.