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Companies around the world are still trying to figure out how to incorporate artificial intelligence into their business models. In some industries, such as music and manga, the AI boom has already posed a threat to business due to piracy issues. However, there is one sector that will clearly benefit from the AI boom: the gaming industry.
AI has played a role in the gaming industry long before the recent craze: in early 2020, Sony's technology was already being used to create an AI agent capable of beating the world's best drivers in the PlayStation game “Gran Turismo.”
But AI, which is now being added to modern games, has a more direct impact on game companies' bottom lines, reducing the huge budgets that have traditionally been required for the development of every new game. Gamers demand high-quality, ultra-realistic visuals and immersive gaming experiences, which require significant time, resources, and multi-million dollar budgets for game developers and creators.
That was the case until now. Chinese game companies have led their global peers in the use of AI tools that make game development significantly easier. Tencent, China's largest game group, uses generative AI technology to help game developers quickly generate animations and create realistic three-dimensional backgrounds and game scenes. Other decision-making AI tools are used for testing game development, simulating gameplay, and creating game missions and scenarios. NetEase, China's second-largest group, has also started using generative AI to improve game development across planning, design, and coding functions.
This means that game writers have more time to focus on developing the video game's storyline, game characters, dialogue, and details of the game world's setting and back story – all of which AI cannot yet do at a professional level. It also allows games to be released faster and at a lower cost. This means more game releases per year, reducing the risk of losing money from one failure, and also reducing the need to rely on older titles for revenue.
China's $40 billion gaming industry has been going strong so far. Tencent continues to make big bucks from its Dungeon & Senki mobile game, which maintains its position as the top-grossing game in China. Tencent's Hong Kong-listed shares have risen more than 25% this year, far outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index. AI-driven growth would be welcome news for investors and games alike.
