Take-Two’s boss says AI can be used to make NPCs ‘really interesting and fun’

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has talked up the potential of generative AI to improve interactions with non-playable characters.

“Everyone’s working on that,” he said during an interview discussion at the Paley International Council Summit on November 7, which was attended by Inverse.

“You’re a playable character, you’re interacting with the non-playable character. That interaction is currently scripted. And the non-playable characters are generally not very interesting. You could imagine all the NPCs becoming really interesting and fun.”

Zelnick wouldn’t confirm whether Grand Theft Auto 6, which will receive its first trailer next month, will incorporate generative AI in any way.

“I can confirm that Rockstar is working on the next iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. More than that comes from Rockstar,” he said.

Earlier this week, Xbox announced a multi-year deal with Inworld to build AI dialogue and narrative tools at scale.

Further reading

Confirmed: The first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer will premiere next month

The trailer will be published in early December to mark Rockstar's 25th anniversary

“Together, we aim to deliver an accessible, responsibly designed multi-platform AI toolset to assist and empower creators in dialogue, story & quest design,” said Haiyan Zhang, Xbox’s general manager of gaming AI.

Inworld hit the headlines in August after a Grand Theft Auto 5 mod let players talk to NPCs using its generative AI platform.