Editorial illustration for Krafton goes ‘AI First’ and EA teams with Stability AI despite limits
Krafton's $70M Bet: Gaming's AI-Powered Future Begins
Krafton goes ‘AI First’ and EA teams with Stability AI despite limits
Why are industry giants pouring resources into a technology that still struggles to craft believable game worlds? While academic papers flag persistent gaps—textures that flicker, level design that feels hollow—publishers aren’t waiting for perfection. Krafton, fresh off the success of PUBG, announced a shift to an “AI First” development model, betting that generative tools will accelerate content pipelines.
Across the Pacific, Electronic Arts signed a deal with Stability AI, describing the collaboration as a step toward “transformative” game‑making capabilities. Meanwhile, Ubisoft, amid a sweeping corporate re‑org, pledged to embed AI deeper into its studios, promising new “acc” initiatives that aim to reshape production. The moves signal a collective gamble: that early‑stage AI, despite its current flaws, can soon become a core part of how games are built.
Big video game companies are jumping into the murky waters of AI anyway. PUBG maker Krafton is turning into an "AI First" game company, EA is partnering with Stability AI for "transformative" game-making tools, and Ubisoft, as part of a major reorganization, is promising that it would be making "acc
Big video game companies are jumping into the murky waters of AI anyway. PUBG maker Krafton is turning into an "AI First" game company, EA is partnering with Stability AI for "transformative" game-making tools, and Ubisoft, as part of a major reorganization, is promising that it would be making "accelerated investments behind player-facing Generative AI." The CEO of Nexon, which owns the company that made last year's mega-hit Arc Raiders, put it perhaps the most ominously: "I think it's important to assume that every game company is now using AI." (Some indie developers disagree.) The bigger game companies often pitch their commitments as a way to streamline and assist with game development, which is getting increasingly expensive. But adoption of generative AI tools is a potential threat to jobs in an industry already infamous for waves of layoffs.
Last month, Google launched Project Genie, an "early research prototype" that lets users generate sandbox worlds using text or image prompts that they can explore for 60 seconds. Right now, the tool is only available in the US to people who subscribe to Google's $249.99-per-month AI Ultra plan. Project Genie is powered by Google's Genie 3 AI world model, which the company pitches as a "key stepping stone on the path to AGI" that can enable "AI agents capable of reasoning, problem solving, and real-world actions," and Google says the model's potential uses go "well beyond gaming." But it got a lot of attention in the industry: It was the first real indication of how generative AI tools could be used for video game development, just as tools like DALL-E and OpenAI's Sora showed what might be possible with AI-generated images and video.
Can AI really shape immersive worlds? The evidence so far suggests otherwise. Project Genie, touted as a preview of future possibilities, delivered only a modest demo that fell short of expectations, leaving developers and observers alike questioning the technology’s readiness.
Krafton’s declaration of becoming an “AI First” studio signals ambition, yet the company has yet to showcase a playable environment that leverages generative models beyond superficial assets. EA’s partnership with Stability AI promises “transformative” tools, but no concrete examples have emerged to demonstrate a step beyond experimental prototypes. Ubisoft’s restructuring hints at a strategic pivot, though details about concrete AI‑driven outputs remain scarce.
In short, the industry’s rush into generative AI is outpacing demonstrable progress; whether these collaborations will ever produce the richly detailed, interactive worlds gamers expect is still unclear. Until measurable improvements appear, skepticism remains warranted, and the gap between hype and functional capability appears wide. Publishers will likely monitor early results closely.
If future iterations can generate terrain, lighting, and narrative cues that respond dynamically to player actions, the justification for large‑scale AI integration would become more compelling, but such capabilities have not been demonstrated yet.
Further Reading
- Game publishers Electronic Arts and Krafton commit future to AI tech - CryptoRank
- PUBG Owner Krafton Will Become an "AI-First" Company - 80 Level
- PUBG and Hi-Fi Rush Owner Krafton Is Spending $70 Million to Become an AI-First Company - PushSquare
- Is Krafton's $69 million AI-first shift a sign of things to come? - Pocket Gamer
- EA Partners with Stability AI for Game Dev Revolution - The Tech Buzz
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Common Questions Answered
What does Krafton's 'AI-first' strategy involve?
Krafton is planning to invest around $70 million in a new GPU supercluster to power 'agentic AI' systems that can act and reason beyond simple responses. The company is fundamentally reorganizing its entire business structure to integrate AI across workflows, including R&D, HR, and operations.
How is Electronic Arts (EA) approaching generative AI in game development?
EA has partnered with Stability AI to co-develop AI tools focused on creating physically based rendering (PBR) materials and previewing 3D environments. The collaboration aims to assist artists and developers by generating textures and environment layouts, with a focus on amplifying creativity rather than replacing human workers.
What are the key goals of EA and Stability AI's partnership?
The partnership aims to develop AI tools that can generate realistic game textures and quickly preview 3D environments from simple text prompts. EA emphasizes that the goal is to empower artists and developers by providing tools that can accelerate the creative process and allow teams to focus on higher-level design and storytelling.