Electronic Arts, one of the world’s leading video game publishers, held a low-key investor conference in which the publisher laid its cards on the table about its new strategy, which includes heavy use of AI.
Andrew Wilson, EA patron // Source : EA
Where should the video game industry go? Amid thousands of layoffs, there are calls for unionization of workers on the one hand, and the creation of smaller projects on the other. The recent release ofAstrobot is an example: about sixty developers for a few years and a game tipped to be the game of the year.
This is not the thesis of Electronic Arts. The video game giant known in particular for its sports franchises (EA FC, ex FIFA), Dragon Age, Mass Effect or even The Simsheld a long 3-hour press conference for the group’s shareholders.
The objective: to reassure about the future of this independent publisher while its main competitors have been bought out by Microsoft in recent years.
“Efficiency, expansion and transformation”
As a shareholders’ word requires, EA has decided to bet big on AI, the trendy keyword to please the world of finance. This is not a surprise. In 2021, the publisher had already committed to the voice of NFTs and Web3 when these were the words of the moment to place in a conversation.
This remarkable technology is not just a buzzword, it is at the heart of our business. We currently have over 100 innovative AI projects underway.
Andrew Wilson
In the case of generative artificial intelligence, however, EA goes a little further than a simple statement. A large part of the presentation was dedicated to the use of AI for the development of future blockbusters.
First, EA wants to use AI to gain in efficiency : « do what we do today, but faster, cheaper and better quality ” It’s easy to imagine how a generative AI can help with the first two points, but we’ll have to wait and see about the third.
With his project d’expansionEA wants to ” giving our creative teams an exponentially larger canvas to create on, and richer colors so they can paint brighter worlds ».
And the transformation will allow EA to engage in the future of video games with ” new ways to play, watch and create “, Especially when it comes to user-generated content.
For Andrew Wilson, this is exactly what fans are asking for: ” the kind of entertainment that today’s gamers and fans crave ».
The ChatGPT of Game Creation
So how will EA actually use generative AI in the future? The publisher sees itself offering tools to players so that they can more easily create their own content. It must be said that this is an important part of some of its games, in particular The Sims. Many fans of the game exchange creations: houses, furniture, characters, etc.
« Today we have an incredible opportunity to serve our employees, our players, our communities and our shareholders. »
Andrew Wilson
“Make it more epic.”
⁰EA Chief Strategy officer Mihir Vaidya demonstrates how EA plans to super-charge user-created game content with AI in this concept video “Imagination to Creation” from EA’s Investor Day event in NYC today. pic.twitter.com/sgBnawF7rK
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) September 17, 2024
EA therefore wants to facilitate the transition ” of imagination ” has “ the creation ” and demonstrated a tool similar to a kind of ChatGPT to create environments in a game. This is obviously just a concept video, not a demonstration of a product as it exists today.
It shows two users generating a video game level made of cardboard using AI, then generating characters. Finally, they ask the AI to integrate gameplay from deathmatch…And bam! they find themselves in a competitive shooting game.
But that’s not enough for our two player-creators of the future! They want their game to be “more epic!” The AI will then generate… a cardboard pyramid. “Wow, that’s awesome!” exclaim the two actors participating in this EA video.
What is EA’s vision behind the speech?
Behind these phrases and promises, what is EA’s real vision? The publisher would actually like to find a new way to monetize its data.
The giant indeed has vast quantities of textures, gameplay logic, characters, used across all of its games since its origins. EA therefore dreams of being able to monetize this content once again by putting it directly into the hands of players through its generative AI.
The future? Player-generated content recycled from artist-created files, which can then be monetized and made profitable a second, third, fourth time.
And that’s the whole logic of EA’s investments in 2024: sports games, the franchise The Sims and RPGs like Dragon Age where you can have dialogues and adventures generated by an AI.
With all this, EA hopes to have growth exceeding the market average.
