Cost Reduction and Efficiency Boost: Generative AI Gives the Gaming Industry a 'Cheat Code' for Transformation
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In 2023, AI is undoubtedly the unavoidable keyword in the gaming industry.
Over the past year, AIGC technologies represented by ChatGPT have iterated at a pace measured in months or even weeks, far surpassing the efficiency of any previous technology. Countless industries have been swept up in this wave, and gaming is no exception.
In the view of Zhang Shule, a gaming industry analyst and expert at the China Economic Media Think Tank, the components of games encompass all forms of content in the entertainment media field. They are a composite of various types of resources, including text, images, sound effects, music, 3D models, animations, films, and code.
'This precisely allows the multimodal features of AIGC to be densely concentrated in games, making them the most suitable testing ground for AIGC technology,' Zhang Shule explained to Time Finance.
The gaming industry has consequently suffered an impact, with the anxiety of unemployment once looming over the entire gaming community.
In April, the topic 'The first batch of people unemployed due to AI has already appeared' trended on Weibo, with game concept artists being among the main subjects. Zhang Junbo, President and CEO of Unity China, also mentioned in an interview that the next roles to be affected might include modelers, game testers, and programmers. Even the work of planners and scriptwriters could face disruption.
At the same time, however, the gaming industry has been the quickest to benefit from the productivity transformations brought by technological advancements.
After a brief period of fear, professionals soon realized that AI is merely a tool. It can serve as an advanced technology to assist humans in game development, taking on repetitive and inefficient tasks. However, AI still struggles to replace game creators and developers. The industry quickly reached a consensus: AI will completely liberate productivity, enabling professionals to produce better games at lower costs.
NetEase revealed to Times Finance that it has independently developed dozens of AI efficiency tools that have been implemented across the entire game industrialization process, with AI technology improving efficiency in key workflow stages by up to 90%.
Zhang Shule also pointed out that with the deep integration of AIGC, it may bring higher efficiency and richer experiences.
"Human creativity combined with AI game production is not far away."
AI gives the gaming industry a 'power-up'
Previously, due to limitations in technology, cost, and resources, game developers, publishers, and studios often struggled to balance cost, quality, and speed comprehensively.
However, the emergence of generative AI has changed everything. AI-powered art tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney can help artists explore different styles in seconds, providing inspiration while also enabling other team members to easily create concept art. This facilitates rapid alignment and significantly reduces the costs associated with preliminary design and coordination.
Generative AI applications like GPT-4 can assist programmers, copywriters, and planners by handling standardized tasks with existing successful cases and reference materials. This relieves them from "reinventing the wheel," allowing them to focus on creativity and research & development.
According to Zhang Shule's observations, AI has already penetrated many aspects of the gaming industry, including concept art, voice acting, programming assistance, game testing, intelligent NPCs, and even direct assistance in game code creation.
A CICC research report points out that the current game industry's production capacity is partially constrained by the lack of automated production tools. AI technology is expected to empower the toolchain, driving automation, standardization, and scalability in production, thereby industrializing the game sector and breaking through capacity bottlenecks.
Major companies are quickly making moves. According to Gamma Data's "China Game Industry AIGC Development Prospects Report," 64% of China's top 50 game companies by revenue have already entered the AIGC field. Among them, 27 companies have integrated AI technology into the entire game production process, including R&D, marketing, and operations. Over 87% of game companies believe AI has vast potential in reducing development costs and assisting in creative processes such as art, music, and coding.
AI has gradually become a mandatory question for game companies. Like NetEase, early adopters who responded quickly and invested deeply have gained a significant advantage. As early as 2017, NetEase completed its initial AI deployment, establishing multiple research institutes and labs such as NetEase Fuxi and NetEase Interactive Entertainment AI Lab, dedicated to developing various AI technologies. Financial reports show that over the past five years, NetEase has invested nearly 60 billion yuan in R&D, with an average R&D intensity of 15%, consistently leading the internet industry.
Thanks to this, NetEase was able to respond swiftly after the explosion of AIGC technology. Since the second quarter, NetEase's technical team has won five championships in top international AI competitions such as CVPR, IJCAI, and ACM MM, and applied these technological achievements to the entire game industrialization process, greatly shortening the R&D cycle and reducing production costs. Relevant data shows that AI technology has improved work efficiency by up to 90% in key production areas such as voice generation, concept art generation, video motion capture, and model generation.
At the same time, based on self-developed large models and other AI technologies, NetEase has pioneered innovative gameplay features such as intelligent NPC interaction, AI text-based character customization, and AI outfit changes in the industry. It has also actively explored the AIGC+UGC model, creating hit titles like Justice and Eggy Party, which have been widely praised by users.
However, in Zhang Shule's view, the current application of AI in the gaming industry is still experimental, with the potential to replace general practitioners in areas like concept art and voice acting, while in more fields, it remains a process of 'deep learning.'
"The greatest impact of AI on the gaming industry is enabling professionals to free up their hands, allowing them to invest more time and energy in creative breakthroughs. AI accelerates game development, reduces costs, and facilitates market experimentation, making it an essential 'booster' for industry growth."
Large Models Will Bring Real Transformation
Cost reduction and efficiency improvement are just one aspect of how AI is reshaping the gaming industry. Beyond this, game developers are actively exploring AI's role in enhancing player experiences. Many are experimenting with integrating generative AI into NPCs, aiming to provide players with personalized gaming experiences and deepen immersion in virtual worlds.
In March, Hu Zhipeng, Senior Vice President of NetEase, noted in a media interview that players seek comprehensive gaming experiences. Beyond dungeon raids and PvP battles, there's a growing demand for social interaction and emotional companionship - an aspect traditionally underdeveloped due to technical limitations in game development.
"With advancements in AI technology, creating emotionally intelligent bots for players has become feasible," Hu stated.
Three months later, this vision materialized. On June 30th, NetEase launched 'Justice Online Mobile' after four years of development with over 1 billion yuan investment. The game's flagship feature is its hundreds of AI-powered intelligent NPCs, positioning it as one of the industry's first titles to pioneer smart NPC technology.
Netease has transformed the conventional gaming experience where NPCs could only engage in monotonous interactions based on pre-written scripts. In 'Justice Online Mobile', NPCs no longer rely on preset scripts, enabling more autonomous and lifelike conversations with players. The game also incorporates various AI-powered features such as AI poetry composition, AI painter creations, AI cinematography, AI facial expressions, and AI voice technology, delivering players an unprecedented level of immersion and authenticity.
This innovation propelled 'Justice Online Mobile' to instant success in the MMO market, repeatedly topping the App Store bestseller charts. Within just ten minutes of its public beta launch, concurrent users exceeded one million. Industry analysts estimate its first-month revenue surpassed 2 billion yuan.
This represents just the beginning. Mid-year, Stanford University developed 25 AI-controlled NPCs based on GPT-3.5, each possessing distinct human attributes including thoughts, personalities, memories, plans, and social relationships. These NPCs autonomously interact and live in a virtual town called Smallville.
After witnessing this achievement, numerous game developers immediately began experimenting, attempting to recreate a rich experience akin to the TV series Westworld in the gaming world. Zhang Haoyang, founder of AutoGame, was among them.
Having previously led part of the AIGC pre-research for Peacekeeper Elite, he quickly assembled a small team to explore the possibilities after seeing the impressive performance of Stanford's virtual town. The result was a small game called Eden Island, one of the earliest domestic products to explore the integration of Generative Agents with gaming.
According to Zhang Haoyang, all NPCs in the game are played by AI and act autonomously. Players can either take on the role of a god, altering world elements to influence the storyline, or 'possess' an NPC to participate in the game from its perspective.
Of course, constrained by high costs, limited continuous memory duration, and uncertainties in gameplay and business models, such explorations remain in the experimental stage, with a long way to go before large-scale adoption.
However, Zhang Haoyang believes that the foundational capabilities of large models will genuinely transform the entire gaming industry. He pointed out to Times Finance that the diverse choices made by different players in games, combined with the random behaviors generated by AI, will create ever-changing storylines. This is precisely the charm of integrating generative AI into games.
"When this day truly arrives, creativity will be liberated, and the scenarios depicted in the movie 'Ready Player One' will become reality."