How AI is Breathing Life into EA Games

Leading game developer EA is planning to go big on generative AI. During a recent conference, the CEO, Andrew Wilson, admitted that AI has made their games better and that the company is considering ways to boost its efficiency by an additional 30% in the next three years using AI technology. 

EA is AI-Native, Says Wilson

Wilson said that EA is “AI native” and that they are “embracing [generative AI] deeply.” When asked about the role AI has played for the company, he narrated their progress with integrating AI, saying it has brought meaningful efficiency to their development processes and cut down on the years it takes to build games.  

“So if we build a stadium in one of our sports games, that would typically take us six months. This past year, it took us six weeks,” Wilson noted. “It’s not unnatural for us to believe that in the coming years, it will take us six days.”

AI Could Take Over 60% of EA’s Game Development Task

In what many may see as disturbing, Wilson added that generative AI has a high feasibility to impact 60% of all of our development processes, meaning that the tasks could be performed by AI. 

Generative AI’s ability to create richer content is another key area of focus for EA. Wilson pointed to the example of FIFA, where the number of running cycles for players has been increased from 12 to 1200 using generative AI. 

Wilson further noted that his long-term prospect with AI lies in the technology’s potential to democratise game creation, which is said to be a “multi-billion dollar opportunity” for EA. He envisions a future where players can leverage these tools to create and share personalised content within existing game universes or even build entirely new ones on EA’s platforms.

“And while we don’t have the math on it yet, I would tell you in the back of my mind my orientation is how can we use generative AI to make us 30% more efficient as a company? How in three years from today could we be 30% more efficient?,” Wilson added.

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