Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann has discussed the state of the video game industry, saying he hopes AI can help solve some of the issues. In a new interview, Hartmann said the video game industry needs to “reinvent” itself in part to capture attention away from things like TikTok, and AI can help.
“You can keep yourself busy forever and without having to touch a game,” he told IGN.
To help get there, Hartmann said the video game industry needs to “overcome our fear of trying out new things” or else it runs the risk of getting “boring,” he said.
“We can just not keep on doing the same game over and over. While I know the problem also is you have to, because the financial investment is so big nowadays, and the investment into games and games development became so much, much more expensive in relation to the growth of the overall market,” he said. “The portion of money going to development, it’s so high. Obviously, you take a huge risk, so everyone plays it safe.”
Hartmann went on to say that he believes “AI will help” in this regard, though he stressed that AI won’t “solve it all.” But he believes AI can help accelerate and improve game development overall, though the cost of game development isn’t likely to decrease significantly.
“I think games development takes way too long, like five years per game. It’s us predicting–especially in a fast-moving world–what the zeitgeist is going to be in five years. It just means basically, everything will be lucky shots and hopefully AI will help us to streamline processes so hand-done work will go fast,” he said. “Ideally we can get it down to three years so we can iterate more, which then will bring the budgets down a little bit. I don’t think they’re really going to get cheaper, but at least you fail faster and then you can go on and go on until you find the right thing.”
He added: “In 1996, you looked out of the window and said, ‘Let’s do a skateboarding game.’ It was that simple… Movies or music who have been through it much, much longer than us, they have a hard time coming up with something new…But I think eventually, we as an industry definitely have to innovate on many levels to develop faster and also be willing to take more risks.”
Video game actors are currently on strike over concerns about AI. Hartmann said he doesn’t really “want to get in the middle of it” and noted that he had to speak carefully. What he did say, however, was that AI can help Amazon’s developers create new gameplay ideas, and he noted that this has “nothing to do with taking work away from anyone.”
If AI does take someone’s job, it would be only for “the boring parts” of game development like localization, he said. Overall, Hartmann said he believes AI will create enough new jobs to offset any potential job losses. He’s worked in the video game and wider entertainment space for decades and noted, “Technology always, always has done that.”
Hartmann also stressed that it is his belief that new technology cannot replace human creativity, noting that humans will “always be one step ahead.” If AI were to be used to design a game, it would end up creating something formulaic, he said.
Amazon Games is just the latest gaming company to speak positively about AI and also cut jobs, having axed 180 positions in late 2023. GTA parent company Take-Two, whose president is highly enthusiastic about AI, recently announced a dramatic cost-cutting program that led to hundreds of layoffs and numerous game cancellations. Microsoft, too, is heavily invested in AI and also had significant layoffs recently. Electronic Arts, meanwhile, is very enthusiastic about AI and slashed hundreds of jobs.
Amazon Games just recently announced a new game, King of Meat, during Gamescom. Some of the company’s other upcoming games include a new Lord of the Rings MMO and a new Tomb Raider game.
