Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, has revealed during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that Rockstar Games is not using generative AI in any way in regards to what it’s building for Grand Theft Auto VI, but outside of that the studio is making extensive use of AI and “always has.”
The executive noted that he’s “been enthusiastic” about AI since the beginning, and that Take-Two’s products “have always been built with machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
On the topic of AI, I’ve been enthusiastic since the very beginning. This company’s products have always been built with machine learning and artificial intelligence. We’ve actually always been a leader in the space, and right now we have hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company, including within our studios. And we’re already seeing instances where generative AI tools are driving costs and time efficiencies.
That said, do I think tools by themselves create great entertainment properties? No, there’s no evidence that that’s the case and it won’t be the case in the future. Specifically with regards to GTA 6, Generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building. Their worlds are handcrafted. That’s what differentiates them. They’re built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood. They’re not procedurally generated, they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes great entertainment.
As previously reportedly, Strauss recently shot down claims that a physical version of Grand Theft Auto VI would be held back at launch in order to avoid leaks. Last April, Strauss told Bloomberg that he doesn’t feel that AI will be able to produce a worthy competitor to Grand Theft Auto, believing human developers will always have a place in the creative process regardless of how technology progress over the years.
Around this time last year, the executive told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes AI could lead to more employment within the industry instead of job losses, the opposite of would many people are worried about given the rise of AI in game development.
[Source – GamesIndustry.biz]