Embracer Group – which has reduced its headcount by 4532 employees in the past financial year – wants to harness AI to “empower” its staff, saying artificial intelligence “has the capability to massively enhance game development by increasing resource efficiency”.
In its latest annual report, as spotted by PC Gamer, Embracer privacy and AI governance head Tomas Hedman stressed it would be a risk if the company didn’t use AI, as it would put the firm at a “competitive disadvantage [with] other industry players”.
“Certainly, one of the major risks for a company is not to use AI, as this would mean a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis other industry players,” Hedman said. “Most companies will move forward on AI integration in different ways. For us, it is the way that we do this that is the most critical element.
“We do not want to replace people with AI, we want to empower them,” Hedman added. “This is the core of our human-centric approach to leveraging the potential with AI.
“It’s not just that AI enables our developers to do even more, and to become more efficient on certain tasks, it will also open up coding to a broader group of developers. Entry into the industry might be easier for individuals with disabilities who, for instance, cannot use a keyboard as easily as others.”
Hedman also says AI could help “in the creative process” by “identifying inconsistencies in scripts and storytelling”, as well as scriptwriting, image creation, idea generation, quality control, “and more”.
“As [gaming] models become more human-like, the interaction between players and AI-supported functions will be much more dynamic. If in a game scenario you bargain, AI can remember this the next time. That makes the whole gaming experience much more interesting and lifelike,” Hedman added.
Earlier this week, Pieces Interactive – the developer behind the recent Alone in the Dark reboot – was shut down by Embracer.
The developer’s website now reads “thanks for playing with us” and the dates 2007-2024.
The studio is the latest casualty from Embracer, which sold off its Saber assets in March and Gearbox to Take-Two the same month for $460m. The company also commenced a series of brutal cuts as part of a restructuring programme that’s seen Embracer’s headcount reduced by 4532 employees in the past financial year and shutdown 44 studios closed, cancelling 80 in-development projects.
