PlayStation became the largest publisher in the industry to publicly adopt the artificial intelligence in game development. During the presentation of financial results, Sony detailed a broad strategy for using generative AI in its operations, with tools that are already active in titles launched by the company’s first-party studios. The guiding line of the speech was defined by the CEO of the Sony Group, Hiroki Totoki: technology amplifies human creativity, but does not replace it.
“Human creativity must remain at the center. AI is a powerful tool, but it does not replace artists or creators. It amplifies the human imagination and catalyzes new possibilities,” said Hiroki Totoki.
PlayStation CEO Nishino Hideaki detailed how AI is concretely reshaping Sony’s internal studios. The executive presented tools already in operation, although he did not specify in which released titles they were used.
The most notable of these is called Mockingbird, an in-house tool that generates facial animations from performance capture data in a fraction of the time the traditional process would require. The technology has already been adopted by Naughty Dog and San Diego Studio, including in games already distributed to the public. San Diego Studio has just released MLB The Show 26.
Another feature in operation is an AI-based hair animation tool capable of converting video footage of real hair into 3D models with strand-by-strand simulation. According to Sony, this was one of the most laborious processes in the entire character art area. Furthermore, automation already covers other fronts within first-party studios, including:
- Elimination of repetitive production tasks
- Productivity gain in software engineering
- Acceleration of the QA (quality assurance) process
- AI-Assisted 3D Modeling
“Our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish. We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission”added Nishino Hideaki.
Sony’s strategy cuts across several divisions of the conglomerate. Sony Pictures has already invested more than $50 million in AI capabilities covering production planning, content protection, corporate productivity, data analysis, innovation and 3D conversion. Sony Music is working to establish a market standard for identifying AI-generated content, seeking transparency for consumers and protecting rights with licensing partners.
The company also announced a collaborative initiative with Bandai Namco to explore generative AI in video production. The two companies have already identified “massive gains in speed and productivity per person”, but have also mapped important limitations: current models still lack consistency and controllability, two fundamental requirements for creators. Sony has developed alternative solutions using models tuned with proprietary data to generate stylistically accurate results at commercially viable costs.
Sony’s move comes amid heated debate in the sector. Recently, Larian Studios faced a strong backlash from the public when it revealed that it was using generative AI in the development of Divinity, its next game. In response to criticism, the studio announced that it will not use AI tools to generate concept art, but will maintain the use of technology in other areas of development.
Capcom adopted a similar stance at the end of March, confirming that it will not use generative AI for in-game assets, but that it will continue to employ the technology in areas such as graphics, sound and programming.
Source: Wccftech
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