EA says its studios have a "hunger" to use generative AI, and it is exploring the idea of in-game ads

by Danny Craig  · 
EA says its studios have a "hunger" to use generative AI, and it is exploring the idea of in-game ads
EA

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has stated that the publisher's studios are eager to use generative AI during development to improve efficiency and that the company is still exploring in-game advertising.

The details:

  • During a recent earnings meeting (via PC Gamer), Wilson was asked how EA intends to use AI in game development, to which he responded that developers have "a real hunger" to use the tech. "We've done analysis across all of our development processes, and right now, based on our early assessment, we believe that more than 50% of our development processes will be positively impacted by the advances in generative AI," said Wilson. "And we've got teams across the company really looking to execute against that."

  • The executive went on to explain that the goal of using AI is to help the company "build bigger, more innovative, more creative, more fun games more quickly" so that it can "entertain more people" faster. Wilson also predicts that AI efficiency will free up EA's time and resources to work on "bigger worlds with more characters and more interesting storylines."

  • Later in the Q&A (via Gamespot), the CEO discussed the possibility of reintroducing in-game advertising in future titles, albeit in a "very thoughtful" manner. "As we think about the many, many billions of hours spent, both playing, creating, watching, and connecting and where much of that engagement happens to be on the bounds of a traditional game experience, our expectation is that advertising has an opportunity to be a meaningful driver of growth for us," he said. "We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that, but we have teams internally in the company right now looking at how do we do very thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences."

  • EA has placed ads in previous releases, including Burnout Paradise, which encouraged players to vote for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Unsurprisingly, the inclusion of real-world advertising in AAA games has sparked controversy, with many claiming that it not only breaks immersion but is also "disrespectful" towards players who have already spent money on the game.

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