EA’s CEO stated that AI is ‘the very core of our business,’ noting the company’s involvement in over a hundred ‘active novel AI projects’ aimed at enhancing game development. Read on to learn more about EA’s vision for AI in the future of gaming.
EA to Leverage AI to Revolutionize Game Development
AI Helps With ‘Efficiency, Expansion, and Transformation,’ Said EA CEO
Electronic Arts (EA) CEO Andrew Wilson has boldly declared artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, is at the "very core" of the company’s business strategy. During yesterday’s EA Investor Day, Wilson outlined how AI is poised to revolutionize the gaming landscape.
"AI in its different forms has always been central to this creative journey," said Wilson. "We all remember playing against the AI, and it has evolved into today’s innovations in generative AI. This remarkable technology is not merely a buzzword for us; it’s the very core of our business."
One of the most immediate impacts AI has had on EA’s development process is efficiency. Wilson noted that AI allows for faster, more cost-effective development cycles while maintaining or even enhancing quality. For example, AI had a hand in developing EA Sports College Football 25. AI helped create 150 stadiums and 11,000 unique player likenesses, to which Wilson remarked in EA’s Q1 fiscal year 2025 earnings call in July as "an impressive creative and technological advancement." Wilson estimated in another earnings call back in May that "more than 50% of our development processes will be positively impacted by the advances in generative AI."
According to Wilson, this drive for efficiency is not solely about cost-cutting, but also about "removing obstacles for our game developers. It means culturalizing content across geographies so they can focus on finding more fun for more players around the world. The lowering of these friction points leads to deeper gameplay experiences."
Beyond efficiency, Wilson highlighted how their goal with generative AI is to deliver a broad array of experiences tailored to player preferences. According to Wilson, this will give their "creative teams an exponentially bigger canvas upon which to create… more brilliant worlds" with greater nuance.
This is also how EA is planning to assist designers in rapidly prototyping game environments and assets using their new Script to Scene tool. During the presentation, Laura Miele, EA’s President of Entertainment and Technology, demonstrated how a chatbot-based tool could quickly generate a basic building model from a textual description.
EA is planning on using AI in The Sims as well for its forthcoming hub. The game incorporates a photo-based searching tool powered by AI for players to seamlessly import real-world photographs and textures into their virtual worlds.
EA’s Use of AI Amidst Industry-Wide Layoffs
However, it’s worth noting that EA’s ambitious use of emerging technologies hasn’t always borne fruit. For instance, EA’s previous push into NFTs and blockchain technology in 2021, which failed to materialize in any meaningful way, was also labeled by Wilson as "an important part of the future of our industry."
Moreover, EA’s current embrace of generative AI has drawn criticism. Many argue that it serves primarily as a cost-cutting measure amid widespread layoffs in the gaming industry. According to the Game Industry Layoff Tracker, 2024 has already seen 12,700 game developers lose their jobs, surpassing the 10,500 layoffs in 2023—and the year isn’t even over yet. This trend, largely attributed to rising expenses and inflation, raises concerns about the potential for AI to displace human workers rather than complement them. While generative AI can undoubtedly streamline processes and reduce mundane tasks, its benefits may come at the expense of game developers’ job security.
Source:
Electronic Arts - Investor Day 2024
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