Nexon CEO believes "it's important to assume that every game company is now using AI" following Arc Raiders launch

The CEO of Nexon, publisher of Embark Studios' latest popular extraction shooter Arc Raiders, has come forward to further elaborate on his thoughts on AI use in video game development.

In an interview with Gamespark (translated by Automaton), CEO Junghun Lee was asked how big an impact emerging technologies - including AI - will have on future Nexon games. To this he responded with a positive outlook on the controversial tech: "The introduction of AI has greatly improved the efficiency of game production processes and live-service operations. In that sense, it feels like the 'average' of games and live services is gradually improving."

He continued: "First of all, I think it's important to assume that every game company is now using AI. But if everyone is working with the same or similar technologies, the real question becomes: how do you survive? I believe it's important to choose a strategy that increases your competitiveness."

Lee stated that "human creativity" is the answer to that question, a belief that echoes what Embark Studios CCO Stefan Strandberg said earlier this year. In that discussion, Strandberg emphasised "there's no shortcut to making great games", believing that developer creativity and ideas remains crucial to making games like Arc Raiders.

Still, Lee's stance that it's important to assume every game company is using AI is a contested one. Strange Scaffold founder Xavier Nelson Jr responded publicly to these claims by dubbing them "normalisation bullshit", posting on Bluesky: "The people who will most profit from this quality and connection-sapping technology being assumed to be inevitable, want you to give up on pushing against it today, by believing that fight is already over."

Tommy Thompson, founder of AI video game analyst company AI in Games, also pushed back on Lee's stance. Thompson rejected the claim all other development studios have embraced AI, and that very few who have explored it have gone "all in".

Thompson elaborated: "These generous flourishing statements are in vogue especially in Japan, where the governments 'AI Action Plan' published last summer expects businesses to show they're embracing the technology." It's worth noting that Nexon, which was founded in South Korea, moved its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan in 2005.

It's also worth mentioning that a report from Tokyo Game Show found that over half of Japanese game studios are using AI in development

So, as you can see, the debate around AI usage in video game development remains a fierce one. If you want to read up about Arc Raiders and it's use of AI, why not give Eurogamer's Arc Raiders review a read.