AI Becomes Standard Practice in Game Development, Google Exec Says

Artificial intelligence has moved from industry buzzword to essential tool for video-game developers, with roughly 90% now incorporating the technology into their production processes, according to Jack Buser, a senior director at Google Cloud's gaming division.

Speaking on Variety's "Strictly Business" podcast this week, Buser said 2025 represents an inflection point for AI adoption in gaming. After years of theoretical discussions at industry conferences, the technology has finally achieved practical utility at scale.

"Until recently, it was mostly vision and early proofs of concept," Buser said. He pointed to foundational research from Google's DeepMind unit that has long intersected with gaming but noted that only this year have those concepts translated into widespread industry adoption.

How AI in Game Development Compares to Past Industry Shifts

The shift mirrors previous transformative moments in gaming history, Buser said, comparing AI's current trajectory to the industry's move to 3D graphics in the 1990s and the transition from cartridges to CD-ROMs—both of which fundamentally reshaped how games were made and played.

Buser brings credibility to his assessment through two decades in the industry. Before joining Google Cloud, he led the company's now-defunct Stadia cloud-gaming platform and spent 10 years at Sony working on PlayStation Now, PlayStation Home and PlayStation Plus.

The closure of Stadia in January 2023 provided instructive lessons about how emerging technologies succeed or fail, Buser suggested, noting that AI appears to be moving beyond early experimentation into structural transformation of game production.

Studios are now deploying AI across multiple disciplines, from design and art creation to gameplay systems, to streamline production timelines and enable new creative possibilities. Industry analysts view the shift as one of the most significant changes to hit gaming since the rise of online services and 3D graphics, with implications for both developers and players that will unfold over years.