“Gen Z loves AI slop” – Former Square Enix executive claims “a lot of AI sentiment is driven by emotion rather than logic”
Blog Andrew Joseph 18 Nov , 2025 0
CEO of Genvid – the company behind the choose-your-own-adventure interactive series e.g. silent hill rising — claims “consumers generally don’t care” about generative AI in games, saying: “Gen Z loves AI bullshit.”
Former Square Enix director Jacob Navok backs up his point, reminding us that the biggest game of the year, Steal a Brainrot, “has 30 million concurrency, about 80 times the concurrency of Arc Raiders, and is named after an AI garbage character.”
“For all the anti-AI sentiment we've seen in various articles, consumers generally don't seem to care,” he wrote on X/Twitter (Thanks, Game Radar+). “All the brains are just 3D models of AI scum. Gen Z loves AI scum and doesn't care. The next generation of gamers are like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and say 'you just adopted scum, I was born into it.'”
Arc Raiders gained huge popularity and sales Despite online controversy over its use of generative AI to generate character voices. Streamer Shroud raises this AI controversy Preventing Arc Raiders from winning Game of the Year at this year's Game Awards.
Yesterday, November 17, we reported Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft forced to remove an image found within 117 AD: Pax Romana Contains AI-generated elements following fan complaints, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Players quickly posted on social media Complaining about AI-generated images they found in gamesthe following AI-Ghibli images trending earlier this year.
Alters Developer, 11 Bit Studiosand “Jurassic World: Evolution 3” developer Frontier Developments, at the same time, Also faced backlash from fans Recently, when they were caught using undisclosed AI images, this didn't quite Consistent with Nawerk’s hypothesis that “consumers don’t care.”
“We've reached a tipping point,” Navok said, stressing that because “Activision doesn't shy away from AI and Arc Raiders doesn't shy away from AI,” the technology is here to stay.
“I should add that art and sound in games are just the tip of the spear. Many studios I know are using AI generation in the concept stage, and many more are using Claude for coding,” he added. “It's hard to find a non-indie game that doesn't use Claude for coding, and to ignore Claude's use of AI because it's code and focus purely on art shows that a lot of AI emotions are driven by emotion rather than logic.”
In Navok's defense, his comments do feel ringing true, at least to other big developers and publishers. EA CEO Andrew Wilson Says AI is “core to our business” Square Enix has recently implemented large-scale layoffs and restructuring, saying it needs “Actively apply artificial intelligence” Dead Space creator Glenn Schofield also recently detailed He plans to “fix” the industry by using generative AI in game developmentformer God of War developer Meghan Morgan Juinio said: “…if we don’t embrace (artificial intelligence), I think we underestimate ourselves“. Nintendo, on the other hand, is bucking the trend, with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto previously stressing that the company Would rather go in a “different direction” than the rest of the video game industry When it comes to artificial intelligence.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist and consultant for IGN with over 15 years of experience working with some of the largest gaming sites and publications in the world. She's also a Guardian, a Spartan, a Silent Hill Warrior, a Legend, and an eternal High Chaos. find her in blue sky.