Konami boss says AI can’t replace the human chemistry behind great games

Konami’s games business president has downplayed generative AI’s likely impact on the business, arguing that “people and creators” matter more to game development.

Hideki Hayakawa, the president of Konami Digital Entertainment, made the comments in the company’s new business report, which summarises its strategies across various fields of entertainment.

Notably, the digital segment (translated by Automaton) covers the Metal Gear and Silent Hill publisher’s outlook on the potential impact of generative AI on the games industry.

Hayakawa argues that although the general consensus is that generative AI will significantly lower the entry barrier to game development, he believes this won’t bring significant change to the market environment, because “entry barriers have already been lowered by the advancements of generic game engines and the spread of UGC (user generated content).”

He added: “Even if AI use does lead to improvements in production efficiency, I believe that the most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators.”

The games boss went on to argue that the human dynamic between development teams is what leads to new ideas and kinds of gameplay. “That kind of chemical reaction is not something that can be easily replaced,” he said.

Conversely, Hayakawa said he views technological advancements as a significant opportunity for creating new kinds of experiences.

“Even when it comes to epoch-making technological innovations, Konami provides systematic support so that creators can get a grasp of new technologies, properly assess the risks they may bring, and safely apply them to game development.”

After a quiet period a number of years back, when it mainly focused on eFootball and retro compilations, Konami has returned to triple-A game development in a big way, with new entries and remakes in the Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and Castlevania series.

The publisher enjoyed great critical and commercial success with the Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill F, and Silent Hill: Townfall, and wants to make Silent Hill an annual franchise, according to franchise producer Motoi Okamoto, who told GamesRadar in August that, “our aim is to, hopefully, have an annual release of new games.”

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse marks the return of the vampire-slaying series and is being handled by Evil Empire (The Rogue Prince of Persia) and Motion Twin (Dead Cells).