Konami president Hideki Hayakawa does not believe that AI will bring a “significant change” to the games industry.
Hayakawa, who has overseen the return of Konami to the games industry, has pushed for the studio to create more original titles. This has seen the return of Silent Hill with new annual entries from new studios, as well as the return of Metal Gear with a remake of Snake Eater serving to teach a new generation how to make stealth games.
In a new statement within the studio’s latest financial report, as reported by Dengeki Online, Hayakawa claimed that AI will not replace developers. There has been a sentiment that AI usage can lower the barrier to entry for developers, but the Konami boss believes this has already “been lowered by the advancements of generic game engines and the spread of user-generated content”.
Instead, Hayakawa believes that Konami needs to invest in great developers and creators. While the studio infamously soured its relationship with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, the Japanese gaming giant was one of the first studios to push a named creator as an austerer within gaming.
“Even if AI use does lead to improvements in production efficiency, I believe that the most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators,” the Konami president explained.
While many have claimed that AI will allow single developers to create entire AAA games on their own, Hayakawa simply doesn’t believe that’s true, instead believing in the power of a creative team. He explained: “That kind of chemical reaction is not something that can be easily replaced”.
While Konami has confirmed that it may make use of AI in the future to assist development, Hayakawa stressed that there are no plans to replace developers with the technology. Instead, if the tech is used at the studio, it will be done with creatives at the helm, and there doesn’t appear to be any pressure on developers to use it.
In the report, Hayakawa explained how devs could use AI in Konami games. “Even when it comes to epoch-making technological innovations, Konami provides systematic support so that creators can get a grasp of new technologies, properly assess the risks they may bring, and safely apply them to game development,” he said.
While AI might help, maybe, the Konami president believes AI “won’t bring a significant change” to the format of development teams. Instead, the studio is betting on people and creatives for the future of its franchises. (And, let’s be honest, what games are more human than Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid?)
