How game developers can save time and costs.

However, as technologyhardware and software alikecontinues to evolve rapidly, largebudget “AAA” games are taking longer to develop - primarily due to the player’s expectations. Not only this, but competition for the attention of these players is also ramping up; trends frequently change as genres and mechanics fall in and out of fashion.

Although artificial intelligence is somewhat of a controversial topic within this industry, it serves to support and overcome many of the challenges that development studios (both large and small) face in this industry.

Research

Research is vitally important for all business ventures, and the games industry is no different. With fierce competition in the casual gaming market, AI-powered, bespoke research tools help studios stay on top of competitor activity and expertly analyse the market to understand what game concepts and ideas are cutting through to players. Tools, such as the Market Analysis feature we have at

Ludo, use cutting-edge AI to scan open-source databases of games marketplaces such as the App Store, Google Play and Steam. AI tools like these return results such as the most popular genres and trends amongst players, which developers can then use to implement into their own projects. Research can be a long, laborious process, but with the help of AI, this process can be more intuitive and seamless, saving vital costs in the typical amount of hours that can be spent with it and lessening the workload for burgeoning development studios.

Ideation And Brainstorming

Competition is fierce in the games industry, and finding a concept for your project that is simultaneously unique, but also contains aspects that are familiar and popular with players for them to gravitate towards, can be a tough nut to crack. Again, with the opensource nature of many generative AI-based tools and platforms, this process is dramatically limited, saving even more time.

AI tools not only save time but also have the immense capability to limit creative risk. More experimentation can only mean more creativity, and experimentation can truly flourish when the risk of potential failure is limited. This is where generative AI tools can offer an enormous helping hand, by offering avenues for prototyping and and to take risks creatively, where previously this would have been a drain on resources many would consider to be unnecessary and timeconsuming. Now, developers are given the opportunity to make informed game development decisions with the support of AI.

Asset Development

Generative AI aids in accelerating the process of generating game assets including textures, models and animations. These AI-powered systems can create variations of objects, characters, or environments, reducing the need for artists to handcraft each asset from scratch.

In larger-scale development studios, art production teams can have a number of employees for a given project, but this just simply is not feasible for smaller teams who don’t have the financial resources to hire potential team members. With the monumental advancements in AI-generated art platforms, smaller studios can stay competitive by taking advantage of these features.

Audio Design And Music

Rather than relying solely on pre-composed music and sound effects, developers can use generative AI to create dynamic and adaptive audio experiences. There has been an influx of AI-powered audio tools in recent months that are truly blurring the lines of what’s human-made, and what isn’t. In games more specifically, AI tools can react to in-game events and adjust the music or sound effects accordingly, enhancing immersion within the game at hand.

There are two key ways this can aid game developers by cutting costs. Audio is a key factor in game design, and music more specifically, so being able to generate and experiment with quality music without the need to first hire a composer or sound designer is a boon. The second is that even if hiring a sound designer or composer was not in the plan of the developer, one would still have to source music through licensing, which is again not a factor with some of these generative AI tools.

AI-ASSISTED TESTING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

Game testing is crucial to ensuring the quality of a game, but it can be a resource-intensive process. Ironing out bugs and other issues is vital to a game’s short and long-term success, so fixing these before a game’s release is keyespecially for smaller studios.

There are several generative AI tools that have the power to simulate player behavior and interactions, allowing developers to identify bugs, exploits, or balancing issues in the game before its release. By automating some testing procedures, developers can save time and testing-related expenses.

It’s important to state that while generative AI can offer a multitude of cost-saving benefits, it’s not a magic box. It should be used with care and in combination with human creativity and expertise, it simply does not work without the human factor. The goal of these tools is to allow creators to steer the process and make these informed game development decisions.

Leveraging AI in game development requires careful consideration of the game’s requirements and the specific tasks where AI can add value. Experiment, see what tools work and you could be surprised to see how much value you get out of them, and the cost that can be saved.