How AI could speed up the release of video games like Grand Theft Auto 6

Gamers have been waiting over a decade for the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. It is probably the most highly anticipated game of all time.

AI could speed things up.

Google Cloud's Global Director for Games, Jack Buser, said AI has arrived at an important time for the gaming industry, and could help developers release new and better games more quickly.

"We're just very, very fortunate that AI has arrived on the scene at a time when the games industry really needs it more than ever before," he said recently on the "Strictly Business" podcast.

While layoffs and a post-pandemic decline hit the gaming community hard, Boston Consulting Group said industry revenues are expected to reach $266 billion by 2028, driven in part by the adoption of artificial intelligence. Major gaming companies like Ubisoft and King are already using AI in their operations.

Buser said one of the key impacts AI could have on the industry is ramping up the time it takes to go from an idea to a release date, something fans of the GTA franchise can almost certainly get behind.

"It is not unusual to find video games that take years and years and years and years to develop. Some take a decade to develop. It's wild how long it can take to develop a video game," Buser said. "And oftentimes, that's because in development, the time it takes for you to get an idea to reality in a game — it's what they call iteration time — can be quite lengthy. But with AI, you're able to actually get your ideas into the game much more quickly. You're able to accelerate that iteration loop."

Buser said AI's potential impact on gameplay is what excites him the most.

"This is where AI can be used to create entirely new gameplay experiences, right? So, we've actually seen AI land first in development and analytics, but where it's ultimately going to go is this idea of providing experiences for players that simply would have been impossible before. Probably the most famous example of this is what we call a smart NPC," Buser said.

Buser said NPCs, or non-player characters, typically rely on preset responses and actions when interacting with users in a game.

"Oftentimes, the way games are designed today and in the past, you would go up to one of these characters and they would say something to you. Then you get to choose like two or three, four different things to say back," Buser said.

With AI, Buser said NPCs could evolve.

"However, with AI, you can actually make these conversations in natural language," he said. "You can talk to a player in the game, they stay within character, and you're actually having an ongoing dialogue with them as if it's another human being, but it's not."

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