Sony intends to rely on AI and new technologies to boost the production of its future video games.
The subject of artificial intelligence is indeed one of the stumbling blocks in the entertainment industry, which divides artists and the good people of production studios. Guillermo Del Toro spoke out on AI, stating that “this is shit”on the other hand, artists like Andy Serkis and James Cameron do not hide their attraction to artificial intelligence. In the field of video games, the problem of AI is also very present.
While Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario’s father, loudly proclaims that Nintendo is not interested in AI, on Ubisoft’s side, we are working hard to find ways to optimize production costs thanks to new technologies. At PlayStation, it’s a bell close to that of Ubisoft that rings out. In an official document published recently, Sony explained that it wanted to develop the use of AI and machine learning in the production of its next video games.
Sony and the ghost in the machine
During the presentation of Sony’s 2024 corporate report, published on September 13, 2024, the Japanese firm gave the main lines of development and progression of the company for the years to come. Besides emphasizing that the video games section is still essential for Sony’s health (in fiscal year 2023, the PlayStation business brought in $29.4 billion), mention was made of the increasingly important place of artificial intelligence and machine learning (or “machine learning”) will take in the future for Sony:
“Strengthening technologies that can help creators maximize the value of their intellectual property in an efficient, high-quality manner, including detection and capture as well as real-time 3D processing, AI and machine learning [aideront les propriétés intellectuelles de PlayStation à atteindre] quickly and inexpensively a larger number of fans. »
ChatGPT, tell me a story
Sony’s goal is to democratize the use of AI and machine learning internally among its studios to reduce production costs and to reduce the development time of its AAA games. In fact, Sony has already used AI and machine learning during his latest productions. In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2voice recognition software was used in some languages to synchronize the subtitles with each character’s lines, saving time during the subtitling process.
Alongside the development of the use of AI internally, Sony explained that developers were working on a « Volumetric Capture Studio » (volumetric capture studio), that is to say a unit which would generate 3D production from existing places and people, in order to produce high-definition images. The goal is to be able to use the production that will come out of this studio internally to allow Sony’s internal studios to save development time, but also to sell its production to external companies.
“In the future, we plan to use high-quality 3D assets, including motion data from our studio, accumulated by each of our companies cross-functionally across the group, and explore the potential external sales. »
The same report explains that Sony has approached Epic Games to develop real-time 3D processing technologies, via the Unreal engine. Sony confirmed that this agreement made it possible to use images generated in 3D for a video clip to design a video game taking place in the same universe as this clip. “We released a short CG demo film using the Unreal engine” the report reveals.
It is quite possible that we have already played PlayStation games that have already used AI and/or machine learning during their development. With the widespread use of generative AI and machine learning, it is very likely that we will soon see the logo appear on game covers “Guaranteed to be manufactured without AI”. But this will not be the case with PlayStation blockbusters.
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