Nier creator Yoko Taro says AI "could make all game creators unemployed" within 50 years

Nier's enigmatic creative director, Yoko Taro, said he believes AI could eventually replace game development staff entirely.

The details:

• At a recent Famitsu roundtable promoting the release of The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- alongside Kazutaka Kodaka, Kotaro Uchikoshi, and Jiro Ishii, Yoko Taro discussed the future role of AI in game development. "I also think that AI will make all game creators unemployed," he said. "In 50 years, game creators may be treated like bards."
• Taro, best known for Nier: Automata, suggested that AI would soon be able to generate branching narratives based on individual user preferences, eliminating the need for creators to imitate or manually craft experiences.
• Taro’s comments come as the use of generative AI in game development remains a divisive topic. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director Daniel Vávra recently said he hopes AI can speed up production, while Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick argued it could increase employment, not reduce it.

Recent AI in gaming news:

• Ziff Davis, the owner of numerous video game industry publications, is suing OpenAI for allegedly using its content without permission to train ChatGPT.
• Two voice actors who worked on HoYoverse's Zenless Zone Zero claimed they were informed by the game's latest patch notes that their characters had been recast after supporting the SAG-AFTRA strike over AI concerns.