“If we don't accept it, we sell ourselves short”
Blog Andrew Joseph 22 Oct , 2025 0
Without a doubt, one of the biggest talking points at last week's Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show came from Dead Space creator Glen Schofield's opening keynote. On his plans to “fix” the industry by using generative AI in game development. also Talk to SchofieldIGN managed to speak with another industry veteran, Meghan Morgan Juinio, to get her thoughts on the controversial practices she's encountered before Call of Duty fans are outragedand also has strong support from gaming industry executives, such as EA CEO Andrew Wilson.
“I think we’re selling ourselves short if we don’t embrace it,” Juinio said. She recently resigned from her position as director of product development at Santa Monica Studios after 10 years there and two highly successful God of War games. “Artificial intelligence is a tool that enhances our capabilities. At least for now, that's how I see it. Whether you accept it or not, it's going to continue to evolve, so I want to be at the forefront and help guide how it evolves and how we use it.”
Juinio next compared the use of generative AI to procedurally generated content, which has been part of game development for decades, noting that SpeedTree – a tool that generates trees in real time – was used to create foliage in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion back in 2002. She also recalled how animators once objected to motion capture and the use of procedural generation to blend animation frames rather than manually setting keyframes. Procedurally generated assets and animations have long been standard practice in game development, and Juinio seems equally confident that generative AI will find its place as well.
“Personally, I'm very optimistic,” Junior said. “As (Glenn Schofield said in his keynote), this is the next big technological advancement that's coming. In fact, it's already here, and I think as leaders in the video game industry, we have to not only figure out able We use artificial intelligence to do it, but should us? It's a case-by-case decision-making process, and what works for game X may not work for game Y next year. “
When asked if she thought the increasing adoption of generative AI might help alleviate the ballooning costs of AAA game development, Juinio made it clear that using AI in game development was unlikely to be the ultimate solution to the periodic studio shutdowns and shutdowns following the pandemic. The bursting of the blockbuster gaming bubble.
“I wouldn't necessarily put it into an either-or scenario that way, because to me the size and scale and beauty of the game is not the main thing,” Junior said. “At its core, the game (needs) to be fun. (Ideally) at its core, the story is great, it's human, players connect to it, and it's fun to play.”
“Yes, it looks beautiful and the music is very immersive. But the music might be really immersive, but the gameplay might not be great, or the story (might be) unengaging, and I don't think it will resonate with players that much. So at least for now, I don't think AI is going to replace the core fun gameplay of a game like God of War.”
While Juinio seems convinced that generative AI in game development is here to stay, she also remains convinced that it can never rival the heart and soul that can only come from human contact, and that AI adoption will only be positive if developers receive an equal amount of investment to help them get the best results from it.
“At the end of the day, you still need game developers to come up with ideas,” Junior said. “The Ares Story is very much a human story based on human experience.”
“At least as of today, I don't think that's going away.”
Earlier this month, the makers of Battlefield 6 said there was currently no way to implement generative AI into the daily work of its development team, despite Considers emerging technologies “very enticing”.
In fact, the debate over generative AI is bigger than that over in-game assets. Early October, Nintendo releases statement responding to claims about generative artificial intelligenceOpenAI CEO Sam Altman calls Sora 2’s copyrighted character videos “interactive fan fiction.”
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor in IGN's Sydney office. He participated in Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show 2025 as a guest of the event organizer.