South of Midnight creators say Microsoft isn't trying to push generative AI in development

Microsoft is one of the world's leading tech companies and therefore cannot afford not to be at the forefront of developing and using AI for the future. However, while they have explored the use of this technology for application in video games, it does not appear that it will supplant the ideas of scriptwriters or the art of human designers.

This comes directly from Compulsion Games director Guillaume Provost, creators of the recent South of Midnight, who says that Microsoft is not pushing or encouraging its first-party studios to use the technology, and in the process stresses that Compulsion has no plans to use its technology in the future either. In an interview with Game Developer, Provost had this to say:

"Just based on the types of games that we make, I would say we are probably not the studio that will use AI the most, and I don't think that bothers anything at Microsoft. The DNA of our studio is to handcraft things and to make them feel handcrafted, and that involves a lot of manual labor."

Despite this, Compulsion's CEO acknowledges that certain aspects of pre-production (such as creating storyboards) would benefit from the use of AI even in a studio as "handcrafted" as his. The video game industry, he said, has always moved forward in a "disruptive" way.

Do you think AI will be used in the industry for technical work, or will the use of generative AI become more and more common?