Following his triumphant return to the gaming scene with God Sport: Masters of Albion, showcased at Gamescom Opening Night Live, esteemed developer Peter Molyneux has shared his insights on the potential evolutions and innovations that will shape the future of gaming over the next few years? His reply? Enhanced cinematic experiences through cutting-edge Hollywood diversifications, seamlessly integrating artificial intelligence.
The enigmatic developer, once a pivotal figure in Fable and later responsible for projects sparking both fervent debate and bewilderment, was recently invited to share his thoughts alongside other industry leaders with Eurogamer – specifically on what the global gaming landscape might look like 25 years from now.
“‘AI is poised to revolutionize sports,’ Molyneux remarked, ‘In the not-too-distant future, AI will be leveraged to create significant aspects of a game – AI-generated characters, animations, dialogue, and voiceovers, among many other possibilities.'”
He predicted that AI will empower anyone to create video games, noting: “With AI, you could design a game like ‘Make a battle royale set on a pirate ship’ and let the AI generate it for you.” While some might liken this idea to Peter Molyneux’s over-the-top claims, the prospect of democratizing game development through AI is an intriguing one.
He predicts that Hollywood will continue to be captivated by video games, with a growing appetite for more gaming-inspired stories and narratives, a trend that has become increasingly evident in the wake of hits like Amazon’s Fallout TV series, The Last of Us, and the Super Mario Movie.
While not the only developer to propose an artificial intelligence-driven solution, Molyneux wasn’t alone in suggesting AI’s potential impact on game development, as Tango Gameworks’ founder Shinji Mikami also foresaw “AI turning into a much larger and more distinguished factor in sport improvement and sport creation”.
Will you implant this sport’s unique characteristics within an artificial intelligence system, allowing it to intuitively decide how a particular character would behave? How would this character speak? “What are his expectations regarding the impact of technological advancements?” he asked. “In the near future, we’ll see limited changes to background designs, but with significant strides in AI-generated animation and other visual effects by the 25-year mark.” The imperative nature of crafting immersive backgrounds and nuanced animations becomes increasingly apparent, as I foresee an even more profound void being left in their absence. That’s just one of several challenges that might feel overwhelming.
As we navigate the complexities of this evolving landscape, I’m left wondering whether these proposed solutions genuinely address the core concerns or merely scratch the surface, potentially paving the way for a future where our brand of humor is reduced to mere triviality. Will we find ourselves stuck in an endless cycle of fleeting trends and half-baked attempts at relevance? Only time will tell. Tell us beneath.
