Artificial Intelligence
Ongoing coverage on Artificial Intelligence.
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AI Yi-Yi!
Electronic Arts reports that Artificial Intelligence is accelerating prototyping and fostering creativity within its studios. The article also briefly mentions a Google AI deal impacting A24 and Oracle's AI initiatives.
EA Exec Says There Has Been A “Real Rise Of Creativity” After Developers Embraced AI
Electronic Arts executive Laura Miele stated that the company has seen a "real rise of creativity" due to developers embracing AI tools for tedious tasks. Miele believes AI helps remove friction from development pipelines, leading to faster prototyping and implementation of creative ideas. This perspective contrasts with some developer sentiment, as a GDC study indicated a growing belief that generative AI is harming the games industry.
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle is an ode to Game Books and human-made art
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle is a unique game inspired by Japanese Gamebooks, developed over six years by former Vanillaware artist Yoshio Nishimura. The game features a tactile UI that mimics a physical gamebook with a character sheet, and boasts gorgeous, hand-drawn art. It is set to release on PC in 2026 and is presented as an ode to human-made art in contrast to AI-generated content.
EA exec says AI has helped drive 'a real rise of creativity' at its studios
Electronic Arts president Laura Miele believes artificial intelligence is fostering a significant increase in creativity within the company's studios by automating tedious tasks and speeding up development. She highlighted faster prototyping and more efficient creative discussions as key benefits. The article also touches on EA's broader embrace of generative AI and employee concerns regarding its impact on layoffs.
Corepunk’s servers go offline today for a major progression wipe and ‘great reset’ update
Corepunk's servers will go offline today for a major progression wipe and a significant update, as announced by developer Artificial Core. This 'great reset' will reset levels, gear, and gold, but earned cosmetics, mounts, and pets will remain. The update includes a 12-person raid, new battle passes, and AI features, preparing the MMOARPG for its 1.0 release later in 2026.
"There are only so many buttons on a controller": How Pragmata overcame huge design challenges to deliver a…
Capcom producer Naoto Oyama discusses the design challenges and themes of the new IP Pragmata, a third-person shooter set on the moon. He highlights the game's 'hack n shoot' mechanics, uncanny environmental design inspired by AI, and the focus on intuitive controls. Oyama also addresses comparisons to Xbox 360-era action games and the potential for Pragmata to become a new series.
AI Yi-Yi!
US intelligence partners and Microsoft have issued a warning that artificial intelligence could compromise government and business defenses within months. The article also touches on comments made by Microsoft's CEO regarding other business leaders' actions.
Morning Safety Dance
Intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes alliance have warned that advancements in Artificial Intelligence could escalate information security incidents into major operational and financial crises. The article also touches on personal security practices, with one user detailing their migration from LastPass to Bitwarden for password management.
EA: AI is delivering "faster prototyping" and a "real rise in creativity" in its studios
Electronic Arts president of enterprise development, Laura Miele, stated that AI has significantly boosted creativity and removed tedium from game development pipelines. She highlighted faster prototyping and more efficient workflows as key benefits, aligning with previous statements from CEO Andrew Wilson about AI's potential to improve development efficiency and give developers more time. Despite these internal views, industry surveys indicate a significant portion of game developers remain wary of AI's role in content creation.
Hex Judge, a Witch Trial Interrogation Game Powered by a Local LLM, Launches July 16 on Steam
Indie developer CheetahTownGames announced that Hex Judge, an interrogation game featuring a local large language model, will launch on Steam for PC on July 16, 2026. The game allows players to act as an inquisitor in a medieval village, identifying witches through interrogation without needing an internet connection. The full release will include over 30 villagers and AI-generated epilogues.
Oracle laid off 21,000 employees over the past year, citing AI as one of the reasons
Oracle has reduced its workforce by 21,000 employees over the past year, bringing its total employee count down to 141,000. The company cited artificial intelligence as one of the contributing factors for these layoffs.
Genshin Impact creator miHoYo has released an AI companion on Steam, an eternal student cursed to never obtain her piano…
Genshin Impact developer miHoYo has launched an AI chatbot companion named BSide: Olivia Lin on Steam in China, marking an early application of its significant investment in AI technology. The company is also integrating AI into upcoming titles like Petit Planet and Genesis, and is reportedly hiring artists experienced with generative AI for Honkai: Nexus Anima.
Tencent considering offloading Marvelous and some other gaming companies
Tencent is reportedly considering divesting from some of its gaming investments, including Marvelous, to reallocate resources towards artificial intelligence. This strategic shift is part of a larger industry race among major tech companies like Alibaba Group Holding and ByteDance.
Tencent Looking to Offload Game Dev Investments, Even at a Loss
Chinese company Tencent is reportedly looking to divest from several of its Japanese game development investments, even if it means taking a financial loss. This move is attributed to the current industry downturn and Tencent's focus on AI development. While specific studios are not all named, Marvelous is mentioned as one of the companies Tencent seeks to exit. Despite these potential sales, Tencent has stated its continued commitment to the video game industry and its presence in the Japanese market.
The Future of Consoles: What to Expect from the Next Generation of Xbox
Microsoft is developing a next-generation Xbox platform, codenamed Project Helix, which aims to unify the Xbox and PC gaming ecosystems. This future console will emphasize cloud gaming, artificial intelligence for enhanced experiences and performance, and maintain backward compatibility. The strategy suggests a shift towards a flexible, multi-device gaming environment rather than a traditional, single-purpose console.
Games Inbox: Is the Valve Steam Machine worth it?
Readers discuss the value proposition of Valve's Steam Machine, with many finding its price point too high compared to a custom PC or even a PlayStation 5. Other topics include potential pricing for Grand Theft Auto 6, the surprising early planning of God of War's Laufey, and concerns about the use of AI in game development.
AI Yi-Yi!
Google has invested in A24 to develop AI-powered filmmaking tools, signaling a new direction for the production company. Separately, the increasing use of AI tokens is predicted to significantly raise enterprise cloud computing costs.
Meta is 'pausing' employee tracking program after it let the whole company see sensitive data
Meta has paused an employee tracking program after sensitive data was exposed to the entire company. This move comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the company's AI training endeavors.
Someone Made A Single-Player Version Of World Of Warcraft, Powered By AI
A World of Warcraft player has created a private server populated by 1,800 AI-powered bots that mimic real players by completing quests, leveling professions, and engaging in combat. These bots utilize DeepSeek AI for communication, though their actions are not influenced by the AI. The concept has drawn mixed reactions, with some seeing potential for single-player MMO experiences and others viewing it as a dystopian example of the 'dead internet theory'.
A24 takes on Google money help build AI tools
A24 is receiving $75 million in funding from Google to develop artificial intelligence tools specifically for movie production. This investment aims to enhance various aspects of the filmmaking process through AI.