Tommy Thompson

Don't you find it funny that Sweeney doesn't want to have to acknowledge use of GenAI tools, yet when AAA studios have custom license agreements with Epic they MUST show the Unreal Engine logo on startup?

So Epic gave me a heads-up on this 'AI MegaJam' and what their plans for it are (essentially to promote/encourage use of the new MCP plugin), but I'm just baffled by this. Like this is a deliberate Photoshop, but if the point was to encourage people to participate it's really missing the mark.

There are a lot of AI stories to be angry about right now, but for now I rambled about Epic going all-in on GenAI is actually quite refreshing. Rather than the same pontificating and nonsense, they're actually gonna go for it. www.aiandgames.com/p/epic-provi...

Seeing this headline of devs racking up debt to pay for token costs is interesting in it's candour but it's also weirdly antiquated. This is why a lot of LLM-driven games have stumbled when they try to hit the market. It costs a ton to pay for player token usage. kotaku.com/ai-driven-dr...

This was a stumbling block for the first 'AI-Native Games' (still hate that term) that came out in 2024. It's hard to optimise token costs when players have the freedom to interact however they wish. It was the first reality check for the LLM hype crowd in that the business model is broken.

Seeing this headline of devs racking up debt to pay for token costs is interesting in it's candour but it's also weirdly antiquated. This is why a lot of LLM-driven games have stumbled when they try to hit the market. It costs a ton to pay for player token usage. kotaku.com/ai-driven-dr...

I slammed myself full of drugs yesterday and went on a rant about how Google Playground is just the latest in a long trend of 'AI game creation' platforms that fail to understand both that they devalue the space they're trying to cultivate, and will only further alienate gamers in the process.

This will dominate the box office for sure, but I suspect the mixed reviews from critics and poor audience scores will lead to some cinema chains pulling it from screens early. But I suspect after a directors cut or two the DVD and streaming version will achieve a newfound appreciation and success.

Ok yeah fuck all yer AI games EDF 5 is out on Switch 2 today.

I'm on vacation but already I suspect this is going to be next week's newsletter based on the number of completely wild reactions I've already seen on Bluesky. Please take 2 minutes to *actually read* what Capcom announced. This isn't about making GenAI games. www.ign.com/articles/cap...

This is about building a new version of the RE engine to address specific pain points in production processes by having a range of machine learning (possibly GenAI) models to help developers overcome them. I need to spend more time going through this, but it reads like sensible AI adoption.

If you ever wonder how misaligned with reality the AI hype is with game dev, today I was reminded of a meeting where an AI bro tried to convince me his LLM tool would help games studios save money cus now they "don't have to hire 50 narrative designers". My guy, where you getting your information?

Anyway I just realised today was the 4 year anniversary of running @aiandgames.com my full time. Doing the consulting, the #content, and all of that jazz. Somehow still here - doing AI in games with integrity doesn't pay quite as well. Wading through the good and the bad of all this AI stuff.

If you ever wonder how misaligned with reality the AI hype is with game dev, today I was reminded of a meeting where an AI bro tried to convince me his LLM tool would help games studios save money cus now they "don't have to hire 50 narrative designers". My guy, where you getting your information?

Looking forward to checking this out if only because every screenshot reminds me of my own neck of the woods growing up (Linwood, not Coatbridge: other side of Glasgow, still shit). Survival horror in a council scheme is oddly comforting.

Been having conversations about this in studios of late (in our consulting capacity) and an emerging theme is prioritising wellbeing of devs and institutional knowledge. Moving faster can have detrimental effects on morale, staff development, and long term product viability.

Knowing the importance of how fast is 'too fast' is something that's only now emerging. With studies showing increased rates of burnout, cognitive overload, and self-imposed crunch as a result of excessive AI adoption. The problem is whether businesses are willing to recognise this.