Capcom Has Been on a Hot Streak, but Their Generative AI Plans May Quickly Extinguish That

It’s easy to remember the good times. Capcom has been on fire lately, releasing what seems to be banger after banger. Games like Dragons Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter Wilds have kept the company propelling forward. But unfortunately, for every piece of good news, there’s bound to be something nasty going on behind the scenes. It seems that even one of the biggest and brightest companies in the world is considering taking the next step toward Generative AI tactics in upcoming games, and I’m not exactly happy about that.

Capcom Proves That Maybe The Residents Weren’t So Evil After All…

Originally reported on by AUTOMATON WEST, it appears that Capcom is gearing up to start experimenting with Generative AI in upcoming games. Kazuki Abe, in a recent interview with Google Cloud Japan, mentioned that one of the most difficult parts of creating new games is coming up with “hundreds of thousands of unique ideas” for environmental details. So, while it seems we won’t be seeing an AI-generated Leon S. Kennedy any time soon, certain parts of the environment may have been created without human assistance.

On one side of the coin, I can imagine that designing environmental assets has to grow tedious after some time. I can’t even fathom how much time went into crafting the Willamette Mall in Dead Rising. But, it has those human touches we’ve all grown to love and recognize. I don’t think an AI-generated Dead Rising would hit as hard as the original games, but maybe I’m overthinking things. I just don’t like the thought of human beings losing their jobs, even for environmental art.

If Capcom does decide to implement Generative AI into games, they wouldn’t be the first to do so. Games like EA Sports College Football 25 have already employed the use of this technology to help create character likenesses. So, I guess this is at least one step lower on the rung of the “Everything is Awful” ladder, but I’m still not exactly a fan of the idea. Let’s just hope that if this becomes a new thing, it’s used minimally.