Gaming and AI has once again been thrown right to the front page of many sites following the reports that Larian Studios is making use of the technology. Some words of the studio's CEO Swen Vincke got taken out of context, and some believed he implied GenAI was being used for concept art. While that controversy played out, it's worth noting that other studios are also opening Pandora's Box when it comes to AI.
Namely, The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red. In a recent earnings report (via GamingBolt), CDPR co-CEO Michał Nowakowski noted that the studio was making use of AI, but that it's mostly being used in "productivity areas." There are currently no plans for it to replace workers with technology or have AI make games.
"As for reducing headcount thanks to AI - I don't imagine that. Our usage of AI is mainly in the productivity areas, and that's where we see the largest benefits of that. The benefits are real, they're meaningful, but it's not a situation - and I'm unaware of such a situation - where AI could sit down and make games," he said. "It doesn't mean it's not gonna be useful, but it's not gonna be making The Witcher 5, or 6, or anything like that."
AI will likely remain a hot topic in gaming as we see it encroach into the work lives of our favourite studios. Recently, 2025's darling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lost a Game of the Year award thanks to the discovery that it had used GenAI at one point in development. It's clear there are a lot of people still very vocally against AI, but will those voices die down as more studios accept its use? We'll have to wait and see.