(Credit: Getty Images / Bloomberg.)
Is AI taking jobs from video game developers? At Electronic Arts, it's possible, considering its CEO Andrew Wilson said Wednesday that about 60% of the game publisher's "development processes" could be affected by generative AI tools.
Wilson made this proclamation one week after EA laid off 5% of its staff, or about 670 jobs. It also laid off about 800 employees, or 6% of its staff at the time, in March 2023.
Wilson emphasized that these generative AI impacts will be positive, though it's unclear whether the tools will aid developers or just boost the company's bottom line, allowing it to ship more games faster. Wilson said generative AI is something EA is "embracing deeply," and could make the company 30% more efficient than it is now.
"We're in the era of generative AI, which is the most exciting yet by a fairly wide margin and something that we're embracing deeply. We think about it in three core vectors: efficiency, expansion, and transformation," Wilson said at Morgan Stanley's Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, as reported by TechRaptor.
EA's CEO claimed the publisher's game developers are already accepting and adopting generative AI tools in their work. "We see a real embrace happening inside of our company around these things that can help them get to greatness much more quickly," Wilson said.
But there has been widespread backlash around AI from game developers, game voice actors, game writers, and other talent, some of whom work on EA games. They argue that AI-generated content is lower quality and can't replace a human voice or experience. It could also lead to job losses since speedier game development mean fewer people are needed for less time.
EA, however, sees generative AI as a way to make more money. "We're watching right now how generative AI impacts monetization on other platforms," Wilson said. "Where there is real personalized content, bespoke to me and bespoke to my friends, monetization is 10 to 20% greater," he continued.
The broader tech and gaming industries have continued to see mass layoffs into 2024, from Activison Blizzard to Sony's PlayStation. For better or worse, Ubisoft, Activision, and Square Enix have all also expressed enthusiasm for generative AI tools in game development—even if many developers and players don't want it.