Japan’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) released a preview of this year’s CESA Video Game Industry Report at Tokyo Game Show 2026 (which the organization runs). Among various insights into the domestic game industry, the report found that 85.8% of Japanese game developers now use generative AI in their work. Among them, 63% of developers said they use it on a daily basis, while the remaining 22.8% use it occasionally (via Denfaminicogamer).
The report is based on a survey that targeted game developers and CESA member companies (the list includes a large number of prominent developers like Capcom, Sega, Level-5, and Konami). While the preview did not disclose the most common uses of generative AI, the most commonly cited benefits developers expected were “improved operational efficiency and productivity”, followed by “shorter development cycles” and “reduced development and operational costs.”
When asked about what measures they had in place for using generative AI, the most common response among developers was “conducting human verification, correction, and supervision.” The majority of responses cited practices such as specifying or restricting the tools used and avoiding the direct use of generated output.
Generative AI usage in game development has spiked from last year’s CESA Video Game Industry Report, which was estimated at 51% among CESA member companies and game devs. In the 2025 report, the most commonly cited use of AI was the generation of visual assets and images, followed by story and text generation, and finally programming support. It was also reported that 32% of game companies enlisted the help of AI to develop in-house game engines.
Commenting on the new 2026 statistics, CESA executive director Tsutomu Masuda said, “This demonstrates that generative AI is being widely and steadily adopted in development environments.” He added, however, that concerns regarding infringement that arise from generative AI must be addressed by the game industry as it continues to use the technology. He noted that moving forward, a key challenge for the industry’s future will be how to enhance the quality of human-centered game development while balancing the incorporation of new technological possibilities with the protection of intellectual property rights.
