As game development companies relentlessly chase profit, the demand for AI and its related work is at an all-time high. I remember those days when the release of every big game felt like a festival, when gamers would line up at midnight launches, when review scores made a difference, when studios gave a damn about making something that would stick in a player's mind for years to come.
What used to be the labour of those concept writers, sound designers, environment artists, and game programmers has been utilised to be given recognised jobs by companies. There was the pride of making something original from scratch, even if it took years. Yet, today, it seems we’ve entered an era of shortcuts. Studios use AI to generate assets, write dialogue, and even music. And, its repercussions are visible on the grounds now.
It’s hard to ignore this disturbing trend. According to multiple reports, including from Game Developer and Statista, there have been more than 30,000 layoffs in the game development industry alone in recent times. In 2024 alone, there were 14,800 job cuts in this industry compared to the previous year, which was 14,000.
click to enlarge
+ 3Some of the most significant cuts came from giants like Activision Blizzard, and the most impacted roles were the very ones that form the creative backbone of development: character artists, 2D designers, and environment creators. Companies like Ubisoft and EA also laid off several of their employees.
click to enlarge + 3One major area where this change is happening rapidly is in concept art and character design. Plenty of AI tools have been developed that can quickly create all that design work.
One such popular tool is Midjourney, which is gaining significant traction. In fact, many game development companies are actively using this tool, which is why companies like Disney and Universal have opened a front accusing them of intellectual copyright violation.
In February, Activision agreed to use AI to generate in-game assets in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. They faced massive backlash. This shows that players are not yet fully open to incorporating the AIs into the assets, which they are paying to own. Maybe this will change, but that will take at least a few years.
Midjourney and other AI tools can argue they’re simply providing a platform. They can say that how users choose to use these tools is not the company’s responsibility. It is like giving someone Photoshop. If they take a famous image in Photoshop and alter it, selling that alteration as original artwork, Adobe is not the one to blame. The software allows that freedom for creativity; it can not control its use.
It is undoubtedly a complicated issue. On one hand, companies like Disney and Universal have filed copyright violation cases against some AI platforms, saying their tools were trained on copyrighted material without permission. On the other hand, AI developers argue that their models learn in a way that doesn’t directly copy but rather “understands patterns."
These legal battles are still ongoing, and the final decisions could change how AI is used in creative industries for years.
But here’s what worries me the most: if this trend continues, some reports suggest that more than 60% of game development will be automated in the next 10 years. This is really disturbing for those who have spent years refining their skills, which can be done by just giving a one—or two-line prompt.
click to enlarge + 3Let me be clear: I’m not anti-AI or anti-progress. How about using AI to do the repetitive work? I use it to save time on work that doesn’t require much creativity. Also, sometimes, to fix grammar and structure mistakes that could have slipped through my eyes.
That said, it is equally important to look at the other side, too: the indie development industry, which is just starting out with limited resources. Obviously, they will not be able to hire a big team of designers, programmers, and artists. So, here, an AI tool can help them bring their vision to life much faster. But again, concern about copyright is still valid in this case, which AI companies need to figure out.
Just like a mathematician doesn’t lose their identity using a calculator, a game developer or artist doesn’t lose value using helpful tools. The calculator doesn’t solve the problem independently; it simply speeds up the process. In the same way, AI should act as an assistant, not a replacement.
Also, someone correctly said that all those game development companies need to understand that this AI-generated work is a double-edged sword. Of course, it will speed up the overall development process, but there will always be a hanging sword of copyright infringement that can strike at any time. One unnoticed mistake will ruin all the work and, of course, reputation as well.
There’s always a better way. For example, why don't all those generative AI companies invite all those concept designers and artists to create the work that can be used to train the dataset? In return, they can share royalties or at least credit.
Let's not forget that if real creators stop working on creative ideas and concepts, we will be left only with AI-generated results flooded over the internet and fed into the same dataset to train the next batch. It will only be recycling, not creating.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Tech page.