Why is this worrying if you work at EA: "EA CEO Is Eager to Ramp Up Generative AI Use in Game Studios 'As Quickly As Possible'
Andrew Wilson thinks AI could be the 'holy grail' for at least half of EA's development processes.
By Adrianna Nine May 9, 2024

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Star Wars: Jedi Survivor screenshot
Credit: EA

Despite the game industry's mixed feelings about generative AI, EA CEO Andrew Wilson is anxious to apply it wherever he can. In a call with investors on Tuesday, Wilson said he's working to implement generative AI "as quickly as possible" throughout the development process. He thinks the technology could unlock EA's "holy grail," which is "to build bigger, more innovative, more creative, more fun games more quickly." 

It's no secret that Wilson is a fan of artificial intelligence. In March, the executive bragged that EA was "AI-native" and that some of its games' player runs had already been augmented by AI. He added that, because of how large today's games tend to be, AI could help expedite the game development process. Strangely, Wilson also rattled off an idea involving an EA AI platform, which could see "3 billion players around the world creating personal content and expanding and enhancing the universes that [EA] creates." (PCGamer's description of this bit as a post-bong rip blab seems accurate.)  

But as far as everyday game development goes, Wilson thinks AI is nearly ready to "positively impact" at least 50% of EA's processes. That's based on an early assessment of EA's entire development pipeline, according to Wilson's investor call comments on Tuesday. "As we think about the first pillar of generative AI for us, we're really looking at how it can make us more efficient—how can it give our developers more power, how can it give them back more time and allow them to get to the fun more quickly?" Wilson said. "And we've got teams across the company really looking to execute against that."
A screenshot from Madden NFL 22.
The Madden franchise is one space into which EA has reportedly already incorporated AI. Credit: EA

Wilson explained that while generative AI is still relatively new, he expects it to become proficient enough in the next few years to transform the game industry drastically. "Our expectation is that over a three- to five-year time horizon, we will be able to, as part of our massive online communities and blockbuster storytelling, build bigger, more immersive worlds that engage more players uniquely around the world," he told investors. 

Wilson's comments come at a stressful time for the game industry. Microsoft abruptly shut down multiple Bethesda studios, including Arkane Austin (the maker of Redfall) and Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush, The Evil Within), then cried to its employees about needing more games like the ones its freshly terminated staff had made successful. (Tango was reportedly in the process of pitching a Hi-Fi Rush sequel to Microsoft when it was closed.) Paladin Studios, a 19-year-old mobile and indie game developer with 45 employees, closed its doors. Lightforge Games, a fully remote studio started in 2021 by former Blizzard and Epic Games developers, let go of most of its team after struggling to raise funding for its cross-platform RPG. 

How Wilson thought his comments about AI were appropriate during such a devastating time for game developers is unclear, especially when EA laid off at least 1,000 of its staff between March 2023 and February 2024. Ahead of the more recent reduction, Wilson said EA needed to prune its workforce to "accelerate innovation" and "streamline company operations." Now, it seems at least some of those former staff members know how their roles were—or will be—refined.

To his credit, Wilson tried to reassure investors (or anyone else listening in) that AI wouldn't "replace what we do" but instead "augment, enhance, extend, expand the nature of what interactive entertainment can be, in much the way YouTube did for traditional film and television." Someone should probably tell Wilson what exactly YouTube did for TV.
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