Capcom Uses AI to Generate Unique In-Game Environments

In the ever-evolving landscape of video game development, Capcom is at the forefront of integrating generative AI to streamline the creative process. With the soaring costs of game development, the industry is turning to AI tools to accelerate production and reduce expenses. For instance, Call of Duty's foray into AI-generated cosmetics for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and the use of AI for loading screens have sparked debates among fans. Similarly, EA has positioned AI at the "very core" of its business strategy.

In a recent interview with Google Cloud Japan, Kazuki Abe, a technical director at Capcom renowned for his work on titles like Monster Hunter: World and Exoprimal, shed light on the company's approach to AI in game development. Abe pointed out that one of the most labor-intensive aspects of creating games is generating "hundreds of thousands" of unique ideas for in-game environments. This includes designing everyday objects like televisions, each requiring distinct designs, logos, and shapes. "Including unused ones, we ended up having to come up with hundreds of thousands of ideas," Abe noted (via Automaton).

To address this challenge, Abe developed a system that leverages generative AI to read game design documents and produce multiple proposals for objects. Each proposal comes complete with illustrations and text to effectively communicate the ideas to art directors and artists. By incorporating AI models such as Google Gemini Pro, Gemini Flash, and Imagen, this system not only speeds up the development process but also refines its output through self-feedback mechanisms.

The prototype has garnered positive feedback from Capcom's internal development teams, promising significant cost reductions and quality enhancements over traditional manual methods. While Capcom's current use of AI is focused on this specific system, other critical aspects of game development such as ideation, gameplay, programming, and character design remain the domain of human creativity.