Square Enix reveals that it used AI art in its upcoming Foamstars game. Kosuke Okatani, Foamstars producer says that the AI-generated art accounts for 0.01 percent of the art of the game.
Square Enix Used AI Art in Its Foamstars Game
Alright, let’s talk about Foamstars, Square Enix’s upcoming game that’s kind of giving off Splatoon vibes. The cool part? Some of the art in this very game is AI-generated. Yeah, you heard that right!
Kosuke Okatani, the bigwig producer of Foamstars, spilled the beans in an interview with VGC. They used this AI tool called Midjourney to whip up some snazzy album covers for the game’s soundtracks. But don’t worry, the game’s core stuff – the gameplay, the fun factors – that’s all handcrafted by real people.
“All of the core elements in Foamstars — the core gameplay, and the things that make the game enjoyable — those are all made by hand,” Okatani revealed to VGC. “However, we did want to experiment with AI as well.”
What Square Enix’s Boss Has to Say about the New Development
Earlier this year, Takashi Kiryu, the big boss at Square Enix, was talking big game about AI in his New Year’s Day letter. He’s all about pushing AI in game development and publishing. The plan? Boost how fast they make games and get smarter with marketing. Down the line, they want to use AI to cook up some fresh, new content.
“In the short term, our goal will be to enhance our development productivity and achieve greater sophistication in our marketing efforts. In the longer term, we hope to leverage those technologies to create new forms of content for consumers, as we believe that technological innovation represents business opportunities,” the letter stated.
AI in game development? It’s a hot topic. Xbox teamed up with Inworld AI for tools to make AI characters, quests, and stories. Then there’s The Finals, this multiplayer shooter that got some heat from voice actors for using text-to-speech for voices. Despite the drama, it’s doing pretty well on Steam.
SAG-AFTRA’s Deal with Replica Studios
Just this month, SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ guild, struck a deal with Replica Studios, an AI voice software company. This lets performers license their voices for video game projects.
Square Enix Using Midjourney for Image Creation
Back to Foamstars – they’re focusing on AI for images, not voices. But Square Enix’s using Midjourney for image creation is stirring up some copyright issues. There’s this lawsuit thing going on with Midjourney and another AI tool, Stable Diffusion, where artists are saying these tools are using their work without permission. Plus, there’s the worry that if AI gets too big in gaming, it might start replacing human jobs.
Square Enix PR’s Explanation to VGC
A Square Enix PR person explained to VGC, “In this instance, we experimented with Midjourney using simple prompts to produce abstract images. We loved what was created and used them as the final album covers players will see in the game. Everything else was created entirely by our development team.”
MORE RELATED POSTS
- Whickers Film & TV Funding Award for Filmmaker Worldwide 2024 (Up to £100,000) – APPLY NOW
- Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy 7 25th Anniversary Broadcast
- Square Online – Learn Easy Ways on How to Set up free Square Online Store
- Euro 2024 Will Reportedly Be Lacking 4K TV Broadcasts
- Ubisoft E3 2021 Big Reveals – Ubisoft E3 2021 Games Update
