CD Projekt Red CEO Has Doubts About Fully AI-Generated Games

Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO of CD Projekt Red, is aware that AI-generated games are coming. He told GamesRadar+ that he has spoken to some of the people building them, which made him question if AI-based development is the right thing to do. 

Nowakowski described a conversation with a studio founder who had outlined a remarkably compressed development model. AI game studios' founders can prototype and release games in a matter of weeks. Nowakowski said, "Maybe that's going to be successful, but I have some doubts whether this is really the path to follow."

Why Nowakowski is Skeptical of AI-Generated Game Development

Nowakowski did not spell out precisely where his reservations come from. He described the current competition for player attention as the toughest it has ever been, pointing to the sheer volume of games released every year. There is also broader competition for time from streaming platforms, social media, and everything else competing for the same hours in a day.

An AI-first studio that can generate 40 prototypes in a week and launch a game in three is adding to the pile of games and not innovating. Nowakowski thinks that as long as developers have a fresh idea with a soul, they have a shot at succeeding in the games industry. 

Nowakowski runs a studio that has been building The Witcher 4 for years. It is a project that by any reasonable estimate involves thousands of hours of human creative work, iteration, and craft. There are no notable AI-generated games that have succeeded globally yet. 

KRAFTON is one of the major studios working with an AI-first philosophy, but it has yet to ship a fully AI-generated game. Only time will tell whether such games find audiences or if gamers will continue demanding products that are built the traditional way.