Nexon CEO Junghun Lee recently talked to Japanese outlet Game*Spark about the development and launch of ARC Raiders. Lee also offered his stance on the impact he expects generative AI to have on the development of future Nexon titles.
Much like 2023’s The Finals, Embark Studios’s new hit extraction shooter ARC Raiders has once again received criticism for its use of AI in the development process (as indicated by the Steam store page’s disclaimer). Although Embark Studios said the game’s visuals “in no ways use generative AI whatsoever” (source: PCGamesN), it did acknowledge the use of text-to-speech models for some of the game’s voice lines (the same technology The Finals used). The studio also stands by its approach of leveraging emerging technologies like AI tools and machine learning as a way to maintain a sustainable studio size, as it recently told Eurogamer.
In a similar vein, when asked about the impact of generative AI technology in game development – specifically in the context of Nexon’s future projects, CEO Lee commented that “AI has definitely improved efficiency in both game production and live service operations.” In that sense, Lee personally considers that the overall “average” quality level of games has been steadily rising.
“First of all, I think it’s important to assume that every game company is now using AI. But if everyone is working with the same or similar technologies, the real question becomes: how do you survive? I believe it’s important to choose a strategy that increases your competitiveness.”
As for what this strategy may be, Lee says his final answer is “human creativity.” In other words, Nexon’s CEO believes that with AI technology raising the bar when it comes to game developers’ average level of output, the role of human talent will become even more important as a means of rising above the competition.
Whether and in what ways this way of thinking will actually be applied in Nexon’s projects remains to be seen, but Lee’s basic premise of “every developer using AI” is probably not something many gamers are eager to accept in the first place, if recent backlash is any indication.
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