The use of artificial intelligence in the development of video games has become a controversial topic in the last few years, as AI use has become more common in several industries.
We’ve seen beloved studios like Larian and Sandfall criticised for using or planning to use generative artificial intelligence in the development of their games, with both studios committing to avoiding the technology after facing significant public pressure.
There are plenty of studios that unapologetically use generative artificial intelligence, such as Level-5 and Krafton. Capcom—fresh off the massive success of Resident Evil Requiem—appears to be trying to strike a balance between both camps.
At a Q&A event that Capcom held for investors, technical director Kazuki Abe responded to a question about the company’s stance on the use of artificial intelligence (via GameSpark).
“Our stance is clear, we will not implement materials generated by generative AI into game content,” answers Abe. “However, we plan to actively utilise this technology to improve efficiency and productivity in the game development process. To that end, we are currently exploring ways to apply it across various departments, including graphics, sound and programming.”
In other words, Capcom won’t be including AI-generated assets in the final release of its games, but does plan on using the technology during production, a stance that’s fairly unpopular in the gaming community, both because of the implications of using AI and because AI-generated assets inevitably slip through the cracks and end up in the final release anyway.
From a creative perspective, the use of AI technology for concepting will inevitably influence the direction of the art, bringing the final product closer to the interpretation of a limited language model.
The incorporation of the technology in any capacity will inevitably influence the developer’s vision of the game, which is one of the worries that people have with the use of gen AI to “improve efficiency” during production.
There’s also the environmental cost of artificial intelligence: data centres need a lot of energy, a lot of water for cooling and a lot of hardware, especially memory, to support the technology.
Capcom was recently embroiled in a controversy surrounding Nvidia’s DLSS 5, an unpopular AI-filtering technology that was ridiculed for sloppifying faces and removing shadows. A developer at Capcom reportedly expressed their worry that the company was moving towards embracing AI, despite the supposed anti-AI stance it held in the past.
- Date Founded
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June 11, 1983
- CEO
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Kenzo Tsujimoto
- Subsidiaries
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Capcom Taiwan, Capcom U.S.A., Capcom Vancouver, Capcom Division 1, Capcom Production Studio 4, Capcom Production Studio 1, Capcom Production Studio 2, Capcom Production Studio 3, Capcom Maintenance Service Co., Ltd.
- Headquarters
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Osaka, Osaka, Japan
