Songyee Yoon, former president of NCSoft, has shared her perspective on the critical and pervasive role of artificial intelligence in game development. She firmly believes that modern game creation cannot be conceived or executed separately from AI technologies. According to Yoon, the industry is currently undergoing a significant transformation, entering a new phase where companies fundamentally built around AI will largely dictate the market’s direction in the coming years.
During her tenure at NCSoft, AI was extensively integrated across numerous aspects of game production. Its applications were diverse, encompassing the prediction of marketing trends, optimization of monetization strategies, packaging of virtual goods, generation of character dialogues, facilitation of adaptive interactions, creation of animations, and composition of music, among others.
While acknowledging the existence of a current “AI bubble,” Yoon attributes its inflation to a substantial disparity between market demand and supply, coupled with overly ambitious and often exaggerated promises made by various companies.
Regarding the gaming industry specifically, Yoon supports the utilization of AI as a powerful suite of tools designed to help developers fully realize their creative potential. However, she strongly advocates for transparency, urging game companies to proactively inform players when artificial intelligence has been involved in the development of their projects.