Naughty Dog co-studio head Neil Druckmann has weighed in on the debate surrounding the use of AI in game creation, suggesting the tech allows creators "to take on more adventurous projects and push the boundaries of storytelling". His comments come in a fresh interview published alongside Sony's recent Corporate Strategy Meeting, where Druckmann speaks of the "exciting marriage" between "traditional storytelling" and "cutting-edge technology".
He explains that new tools are allowing even "non-technical people" to realise their ambitions and turn imagination into reality. "Moreover, AI is really going to revolutionize how content is being created, although it does bring up some ethical issues we need to address. With technologies like AI and the ability to do motion capture right from home, we're reducing both costs and technical hurdles, opening the door for us to take on more adventurous projects and push the boundaries of storytelling in games. This evolution is truly empowering creators to bring their visions to life without the traditional obstacles."
Speaking more to brand new technology in general rather than just AI, Druckmann cites how he's now able to oversee the production of the second season of HBO's The Last of Us TV adaptation from his home in LA while recording will take place in Canada.
"You may be able to lift an environment from a game to put into other media directly or allow actors to see and interact with the environments through headsets. Technological advancements also support global collaboration and real-time feedback. Remote work tools, crucial during the pandemic, have reduced travel and streamlined production processes."
Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners, shared some further colour to the story surrounding the use of AI. "One thing people need to realize is that more than half of games developers (Especially in Asia / China) are using generative AI for professional game development at this point," he tweeted. This is supposedly mostly for "pre-production" and "concept" purposes right now, "but will expand, of course".
Elsewhere in the interview with Neil Druckmann, he suggests the next Naughty Dog game is "perhaps its most thrilling yet" as it could "redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming". What do you make of his latest comments? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source sony.com]
Comments 51
Yes all lovely and so much talk from lots of developers of late.
How about some dam big AAA campaign games.
Give me Uncharted, the new beginning with Drakes Daughter.
Come on Sony and ND I have a PS5 for a reason like PS3 and PS4 your amazing exclusives.
OK... here is my AI generated money for your hard work...
I get it. The most beloved games of the last couple of years were those which allowed individual experiences: Everybody told their own story of what happened while playing Breath of the Wild or Elden Ring. In contrast, all players experienced the same while playing TLoU or Uncharted.
Bringing these kinds of experiences together - freedom and vocal story telling - with AI would be great!
In Druckmann's mind if he can replace those pesky employees that complain about crunch and being overworked to the point of burnout with a nonstop working AI it will be great! AI doesn't get tired or complain, right?
It's just a matter of time before every developer uses AI, if it truly does help speed up development and cut costs which then means more releases and less delays without degrading quality then im all for it.
I still think investors are the only things AI should be replacing. But any random item would do less damage than those bipedal creatures not even pretending to be humans.
@UltimateOtaku91 every company in the world is using it to replace staff who won’t go back to the office lol
first comment said he (or she) wants the sequel to Uncharted 4. No. it has positively happy ending for everybody. Leave it be. I don't want the next uncharted. They might get someone we loves die just like Joel. I lose my faith in Naughty Dog lately.
Did anyone see that mod for Skyrim VR on PC that allowed the player to have actual back and forth conversations with the NPCs? It made me think that we're on the road to holodeck levels of interaction.
The possibilities there for narrative in RPGs especially are very exciting.
@Max_the_German not sure if you've seen it but there is a guy that modded skyrim to have chatgpt in skyrim pretty much making all the npc's feel alive , they know where they are in the game , what time of the day it is, and this is pretty early on so theres a lot of room of improvement but if it can be fully placed in a game , it could be completely game changing the way we see npc's.
@Mikey856 That's the major downfall to AI, at some point the majority of wealthy nations will be filled with unemployed and could cause a rise in poverty, the UK will struggle as they pay the unemployed benefits which means to cover that cost the taxes will rise for those that are working.
@OldGamer999 if the rumor mill is remotely true , nd helped another studio work on a new uncharted game , and nd would be doing work on a new ip along with last of us 3.
I'm sure a ton of higher ups feel this way until there's talk of their jobs being replaced by ai. That will be hilarious.
@SirSephy Uncharted 5. Can't wait for a muscle-bound Nadine to return and beat Nathan to death in front of his daughter once it's discovered he killed someone Nadine knew in one of his many
murder spreesadventures. Nathan's daughter vows revenge and spends half the game killing dogs.10/10. Everyone claps.
Got to Respect The Man for Being Honest
And Yes i Think Has is Place in game deployment but more for grunt work and help devs out
I'm waiting for the day of AI rights and protests against AI crunch, while humans have devolved to inhabiting Spaceships and we never walk. We just float around in big comfy chairs while AI bots do all our work for us and Earth is uninhabitable...
...wait that's the entire plot of Wall-E!
Uncharted games got some of the best storytelling ever made.we definitely need more uncharted video games.word up son
@SirSephy id rather have a sequel made by ND rather than this MFs selling the IP and have somebody wlse trash it completely like it happened with crash bamdicoot
There really is no hope for Naughty Dog, if they talk like this.. Damn shame, they used to be one of the best..
@Ralizah loool ok you might habe changed my mind after all, ***** ND
@twitchtvpat
Well hopefully so, but so much talk and chat and rumours about from the internet and developers.
They just need to get on and produce.
Feed me those amazing AAA games. 🤣
@playstation1995
Playing uncharted 4 PS5 enhanced.
Makes you want another even more.
Should have been made and near release by now, but everything seems so slow in development world of late.
I'll watch season 2 of last of us but can't play games that just feel like movies any more.
@twitchtvpat I haven’t seen it, but this is not what I want. I don’t need to talk to a random NPC in Skyrim, I don’t care for them. I want a dynamic main story! A bit like those myriads of story options in BG3, but more individual and natural, based on prior decisions.
@Shepherd_Tallon I am of the opposite side here. I don't want to have conversations with NPCs. Give me a handcrafted experience to enjoy - don't make me generate my own fun.
I play games to have stories told and to escape reality, not live in a different one.
I will say it's a neat novelty, but to design an entire RPG with that level of interactivity seems more daunting than fun. Then again, I already find Bethesda-style RPGs as daunting, so I am probably not the target audience there. 👍
There is so much that can be done quickly with AI. Anyone who has to write reports or do data analysis and things like that know how much help ChatGPT or other tools are. But they should not be replacements for creativity. Only for mundane tasks IMO
Isn't this the guy who single-handedly ruined the Last of Us with his awful story telling?
@Ralizah Nadine almost assured the brothers and Rafe died in the burnt ship. As you can see she has her little treasures before Rafe forced her to continue fighting against Sam. She has her own happy ending. If you want her returns... you forgot someone else... Rika Raja. Nathan said he will find her again... never happens. Naughty dog skipped her.
@SirSephy you do realise that it is highly rumoured that a uncharted drakes daughter game is in the works at some unknown studio?
Off the fact that playstation themselves a year or so ago, came out with a live action advert in which many games were revealed.
Every single game reveal in that advert could be identified and has come to release apart from 1.
In which a young woman is within a ancient tomb looking for artifacts. Its strongly suggested that this is indeed cassie drake as it would make sense to the ending of uncharted 4.
Its the only part of that advert which hasn't been seen to of come out or been linked to any known game.
@Bez87 "unknown studio" wouldn't create the incredibly game as Naughty Dog did.
@Max_the_German well if you want all that but don’t want it to be made by ai then you are certainly in for a longer wait for that game
@Mikey856 What? I want it to be realised by AI. Doing it by hand is too much work, and AI can react on previous decisions in a way that can’t be covered by answers written by men.
Oh so AI is already being used more in game production AND there's been a huge wave of layoffs in the gaming industry.....yeah...no correlation right? Let me guess....games will go up 15$ more dollars due to production costs too....
What about all those dead kids Neil. Glad you can waffle on about nonsense while your conscience remains squeaky clean.
@Max_the_German so then as a consequence people will lose there jobs . You okay with that? It’s already happened in my sector, engineering.
The other part of the interview doing the rounds but not discussed here was his pushing "motion capture is the way forward",& seemingly implying hand drawn animation is old hat etc.
Goes in hand with previous interviews where he mentioned they considered a Jak sequel a few years ago but he believes they've moved on as a serious/narrative style now....
Don't get me wrong,I loved the Drake series, & TLOU 1,but remember games like the Jak series much like Insomniac's Ratchet could have their humorous moments or I dunno,be "fun" too?
Maybe just old & cynical, but not everything needs a dreary TLOU 2 narrative!
Will AI also be used to replace the shareholders so that developers can take risks again?
Youtube got so much better with all these AI nightmare voiced shorts so bloody lazy.
@Max_the_German AI response are so natural its a blessing.... 😆
We maybe have 10 more years until all art is dead anyway, and everyone will create their own ***** fast food entertainment with the push of a button, noone is going outside, at least 70% of creative jobs (and many other industries too) are gone.
So let's enjoy the "good times" while they're lasting.
@Flaming_Kaiser Right! When photography started, it was only black and white, while paintings were in color and therefore much more precise.
@Mikey856 What I want is a combination, AI will alter the basic stories. And you will probably need MORE people to realise this in a meaningful way.
@Max_the_German well I reckon you are in a minority there
@Mikey856 And the minority is always wrong.
@Max_the_German when they are calling for ai yes I’d say they are. Like I said AI has taken countless jobs in my sector & it will be even worse for game developers since it’s literally computer work. Call for it at your peril
Couldn't care less if a Story is written by Humans or AI, couldn't care less if AI designs and makes Games, does all the voice work etc, It's all about the 'end' product for me.
IF I can't tell in the end Product, why does it matter? Should 'humans' voice AI for Authenticity? What difference does it make knowing a voice was 'performed' by a Human or by an AI if it 'works' for the audience. If the Story is as good, if not better, the audience can't tell, then I couldn't care less.
I don't think AI is totally capable of writing a story, the scripts etc for a game without some Human correction/involvement or even some writers using AI for inspiration too. Nothing I have an issue with!
I'm not an expert at AI so i can't comment whatever Neil or any developers gonna do with the tech until i see the result.
But if AI can make story just as good if not better than human then why not?
I can understand using it on concept phase cause it's so easy to make it draw some concept art ideas.
But... storytelling? That is harder to believe.
@Thumper You know... i'm pretty sure it's easier to make an AI that analyses company numbers and spews an answer based on patterns of success than writing a story that makes sense.
So, yes, they can very well replace execs. They should quake in their boots. The amounts of money shareholders can save by firing the execs is insane.
@SirSephy well naughty dog has said they are done with uncharted. And rumours were floating around a few year back that someone was making an uncharted game.
Then we got that advert and that game has not been revealed or isn't part of a franchise we knew of. So it was either just a mock up for the advert, a new franchise or it is in deed daughter of drake.
Tired of this AI chat. Just make a damn game and stop spouting nonsense.
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