Jacob Navok, the current CEO of interactive media company Genvid and former director of business at Square Enix, has recently made statements regarding video companies’ usage of generative AI (AI). He has claimed that many consumers are impartial or supportive of the technology, video game companies are going to continue to integrate it into development processes, and that anti-AI sentiment is illogical.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Navok begins by claiming that, despite many publications taking anti-AI stances, “consumers generally do not care.” He goes on to say that the game “Steal a Brainrot” on Roblox, which he refers to as “the biggest game of the year,” had over 30 million concurrent players despite featuring “AI slop characters.” These numbers, Navok mentions, far exceed the concurrent player count of the extraction shooter Arc Raiders. As such, he concludes that “Gen Z loves AI slop, doesn’t care.”
It’s important to note that Roblox, and by proxy “Steal a Brainrot,” are free-to-play mobile games with microtransactions, while Arc Raiders is a PC and console title costing $39.99 on Steam. These differences, in addition to reliance on AI, could contribute to differing concurrent player counts. Additionally, Roblox has players of wide range of ages, with roughly 39% identifying themselves as under the age of 13. As such, it’s difficult to confirm whether Gen Z (13-28 years old) or Gen Alpha (12 years or younger) is the primary, AI-positive playerbase for “Steal a Brainrot.”
In the second half of his post, Navok claims that AI in video games will not stop with artwork and voice acting. He says that “many studios I know are using AI generation in the concept phase, and many more are using Claude for code.” He mentions that the company behind Arc Raiders, in addition to Activision, will continue to use the technology. He goes on to claim that “it will be hard to find a non-indie title that isn’t using Claude for code.” Ignoring this information and focusing on artwork, Navok argues, “shows that a lot of AI sentiment is being driven by emotion rather than logic.”
It’s important to mention that Activision, while defending and committing to future usage of AI, has faced criticism from their playerbase for using AI-generated artwork in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Furthermore, Behaviour Interactive, the developers of Dead By Daylight, faced similar fan backlash after opening a job listing for AI-centric programmers and forming a “generative AI research team.” In both situations, criticisms centered around the negative impact AI has on the job market or environment rather than personal disdain. Whether or not indie titles will rely on AI in the future remains uncertain.
Many video game companies, such as Amazon Games, Activision, and more, continue to integrate AI into their titles. It remains unclear whether people in the future will support this integration, like Novak claims, or denounce it.