AI-driven technology has surged in popularity over the past few years, raising concerns about generative content and similar innovations among game developers and gamers alike. Embark Studios, known for their anticipated third-person extraction shooter, Arc Raiders, is no exception. A couple of years back, the developers encountered criticism regarding their use of AI, which they claimed enabled them to “work better and faster, and do more with less.” This focus on technology has been a priority for CEO Patrick Söderlund since his time at EA, where he was instrumental in founding EA SEED in 2018.
SEED is recognized as “a pioneering group within Electronic Arts,” tasked with exploring new technologies. In a recent interview with Edge, Söderlund reminisced about his days at EA, stating, “The emergence of AI, reinforcement learning, machine learning, should completely change how this industry functions.” He brought this mindset to Embark, challenging himself with, “So, how can we [at Embark] be pioneers within that field?”
AI’s Place in Game Development
Notably, incorporating AI doesn’t imply automating creativity or stripping the human element from the development process. Söderlund acknowledges, “The beauty of videogames, as with any art form, is that – at least so far – they can’t be built by an AI. I hope they never can. The human aspect is still essential.” Instead, AI can enhance the technical side of development, freeing up time that can be used for more creative endeavors. He perceives AI as advantageous, particularly for smaller teams with ambitious goals.
One example he gives involved a concept that led to a real-life experiment at Embark: “What if, instead of having to hand-animate or use mocap for every single frame, we created a model, gave it physical attributes, then used AI to train it to walk?” In 2019, Embark shared a video online demonstrating this technology.
The clip showcased movement “without any manual animation work at all.” Six years later, advancements in technology are evident. “We’ve come so far now,” Söderlund remarks. “Let’s say you want a new weapon created for The Finals. We can take a YouTube video, process it through our tools, and [produce] a 3D model of the weapon shown in that video.”
While Söderlund admits the AI-generated output isn’t “perfect,” he believes it’s functional enough: “That might sound like wizardry, and I would be lying if I told you that it’s flawless – it isn’t – but it works, and that output is something we can then work with.” Although the studio initially targeted a goal of creating “content 10 times faster,” Söderlund envisioned a more ambitious goal.
Ambitious Goals for Content Production
He recalls a previous discussion with Embark’s co-founder Robert Runesson: “I know you’re going to think that I’m a complete nutcase, but I don’t want us to build things 10 times faster – I want us to build content a hundred times faster. If we aim for 10, we may achieve two and probably stay within the same parameters and just tweak. If your ambition is to accomplish something 100 times faster, you have to take everything you know and just throw it up in the air.”
So, why has the development of Arc Raiders encountered numerous delays? “When I worked at EA, due to the pressure to deliver on time – which is quite common, and everyone faces this – my solution was often, ‘Just put more people on it.’ On these large-scale productions, you end up not with a hundred people, but eight to nine hundred, even a thousand people working on something.”
However, this isn’t the approach Söderlund desires for Embark. “That obviously works in the short term, but it’s arguably counterproductive to efficiency and maintaining quality. Sometimes you simply need time,” he explains. “It’s not about money or manpower. It’s about allowing sufficient time to learn, test, analyze all the data, and understand what transpired. You can’t really rush that.”
These reflections are reasonable; however, public sentiment regarding the role of AI in development and creativity may not shift easily. As Söderlund elaborates, there are numerous variables involved. Meanwhile, legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu has declared that he has “never used AI and probably never will” since “it’s more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself.”