Artificial Intelligence in Game Development: Top 5 AI Tools You Need Now

The Gaming industry is a billion-dollar revenue-generating space, that is only projected to grow larger. Videogames like Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin’s Creed, God of War, GTA Vice City, etc., are some of the biggest entertainment products in the world. While the gaming industry grows big, AI also looms large over the world. With two huge fields of technology and design growing at such a rapid rate, it is bound to bring about an amalgamation of the two.

So what will Game Development look like when powered by AI? What are some of the best tools in AI that will help in this purpose? And, how will AI benefit Game Development in terms of user experience? These are some of the burning questions that this article will address. So let’s dive in.

What is the Role of AI in Game Development?

While a lot of Game Developers are using AI to create their product, it isn’t still utilized up to its full potential. AI can help Game Development in several ways, and it first starts with ‘Coding’. Using simple AI tools like ChatGPT can help a developer come up with codes to solve any problem at any stage of Game Development. The solutions are simple and codes can be run multiple times to come up with the exact solution.

Next, AI can help with ‘Voice Acting’ and ‘3-D Models’. Game Developers who are operating on a shoestring budget can take the help of AI to fulfil their need for a voice actor and a 3-D model. The voice can be modulated in any tone, language, and pitch, as per the requirement of the videogame. Similarly, AI-powered 3-D models will give developers a crystal clear idea of designing characters, including NPCs (Non-Player Characters).

AI like ChatGPT and Gemini are smart tools for documentation purposes. Game Developers need to keep track of a ton of documents while developing a game. AI tools make this process significantly easier and without much manual labour. Lastly, AI helps in ‘Animation’. Several AI tools easily create an animated video via a text prompt. Game Developers can surely take note of that and build on it. It will only ease their workload and help them with multiple options.

To further emphasize the growing role of AI in Game Development, here are the Top 5 AI tools, besides ChatGPT and Gemini, that one can use while creating a game.

TOP 5 AI Tools for Game Development

1. Meshi.ai

It is a generative AI tool that helps developers create 3D models and textures. It allows developers to convert text descriptions into 2D images or even 3D models, thereby saving a lot of time.

2. Charmed.ai

Charmed allows game developers to build richer 3D games. It creates detailed meshes, stunning images and lively animations. It also improved speeds by reiterating faster with each prompt

3. GANImator

It is a tool that uses neural motion sequencing to bring game characters to life. It covers applications like crowd simulation and frame editing for various structures.

4. Scenario

It is a tool that helps game developers to create unique game-ready assets. Its fine-tuning capability feature stands out in comparison with other tools.

5. Promethean AI

It is a tool that helps artists to create detailed 3D environments faster. The standout feature of this tool is to generate a complex variety of environments based on simple descriptions.

Some of the other AI assets that will help in Game Development are AI Tree, AI FY, Inworld AI, etc.

Should Game Developers Adopt AI Tools?

The impact of AI on video games is already massive and visible. As video games have evolved from the days of just Super Mario, Street Fighter, Donkey Kong, etc., to the likes of The Last of Us, Fallout, Elden Ring, etc., so have the graphics required to play them. Users don’t just expect a normal experience from video games anymore. Instead, a more immersive, interactive, and realistic experience is now becoming the norm. AI is increasingly enabling such possibilities.

AI has breathed life into enemies in a video game. It isn’t just about the protagonist fulfilling his/her mission, en route to defeating the enemy. Enemy AI allows the antagonists to track the moves of the hero, create strategies, and adapt accordingly. This makes video games a far more challenging experience, thereby engaging users even more.

In the interactive worlds enabled by AI, NPCs respond to player actions, which wasn’t the case previously. AI can even alter storylines depending upon user needs and experience; or alternately, it can produce multiple storylines to the same narrative that any user can choose from. This makes the gaming experience much more personal.

Outside of supporting the entertainment quotient of the enormous gaming industry, AI is also used for educational purposes. It identifies a student’s skill level and develops games accordingly to challenge them. The fact that video games have become far more engaging and an all-consuming entertainment property is mainly thanks to AI.

Therefore, to keep up with the stringent competition of the gaming market and to rise above the occasion, every single Game Developer must provide these experiences to the users. It is also important to know one’s demographics and market to them properly. This naturally makes it a necessity for Game Developers to use AI.

At the moment for Game Development, using AI has become an ‘adapt or perish’ kind of situation.

What is the Future of AI in Game Development?

As of now, Game Developers are utilizing AI for animation, coding, interactive uses, and art and graphics. Those working towards perfecting AI are looking to achieve two main purposes with it – More human-like behaviour and easing the cumbersome and time-consuming processes.

Videogames will likely be far more interactive, with 3-D and 4-D models enabling a lively experience. In the future, AI might even take the ‘Virtual’ out of ‘Virtual Reality’ in gaming. NPCs and enemies in games are already strategizing and reacting in video games due to AI. This easily provides a scope to metastasize into other aspects of gaming. Companies like Nvidia are already using AI to constantly improve video game graphics.

Language models like ChatGPT are already predicting that AI can have the biggest impact on characters. Giving them behaviour patterns, intelligence, decision-making ability, and an overall personality, are some things AI can work on other characters in a video game i.e. NPCs. This will drastically change the experience of playing any video game.

Despite the massive foray of AI into our lives, carrying out Game Development processes is still difficult, intricate, and time-consuming. Evolving the existing AI alongside new ones can make Game Development a much easier process.

A great example would be the AI ‘Ghostwriter’ by Ubisoft. The French video game company Ubisoft launched Ghostwriter, an internal AI scriptwriting tool that creates rough drafts of NPC chatter. This frees developers of a lot of minor tasks, who can then devote their time to high-level narrative work.

How to Choose the Right AI Tool?

Depending upon the needs of the videogame, developers can choose AI accordingly. If they need help with scripting a character arc or story arc, they can rely on language model AI like ChatGPT or Gemini. If the requirement is to enhance gameplay via graphics, art, and character design, other AIs will be helpful.

However, what’s more imperative is to keep track of the rise and fall of every AI tool. Since AI is a rapidly growing area, Game Developers must always be on the lookout for the ones that show the most promise. Moreover, choosing the right AI tool must also take beating the competition into consideration. How any AI tool would enhance a video game that it puts ahead of all its competitors, is also something that will hover on a developer’s mind. Lastly, AI can also be used to market their product effectively.

To conclude, AI and Gaming and their confluence are still a new territory. Although they might not be in their nascent stage, Game Developers are still experimenting with AI in various aspects of their product. Its application will very likely increase significantly in the future, and AI and Gaming will be co-dependent.