It’s Nothing to Do With “Delivering Value”

The recent comments from the Game Director, Shigeru Miyamoto, of Nintendo have fueled controversy. Generative AI has become probably the hottest topic in town. Be it health, education, or automobiles, no industry is now missing a chance of this ultra-futuristic technology.

However, Miyamoto’s company stays firm on its stance of not using this technology for developing games in the future. He emphasized the originality and authenticity of their games rather than this artificial modernization. But is that really the only reason?

Using AI Won’t Make Nintendo an Indie Giant

Right now, the gaming industry is failing to deliver unique and brand-new games. Be it Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty, you already know the drill and how things are going to be. Yes, the stories in specific installments might be different, along with slight changes, but the core aspect will be the same. That’s why people nowadays are more inclined towards indie games.

Indie games are something that always comes with some surprises, with some never-seen ingredients. A recent example is Black Myth: Wukong, which is made by Chinese indie studio Game Science and exceeded all expectations with its huge success.

Now, there might be other indie games that are way more fantastic than Black Myth: Wukong but don’t get proper recognition for unavailability on popular platforms, just like Enotria: The Last Song didn’t get any response from Xbox.

Here’s where Nintendo steps in. A hugely viable reason for this company’s opting out of AI is it wants to make the platform a hub for all the indie games that are coming up soon. AI might have been a fear for employees all over the world.

However, that won’t affect Nintendo employees’ lifestyles, as most of them are going to be from indie-developing games, which will create some fascinating titles for the Japanese gaming company. And with Switch 2 around the corner, this decision from Miyamoto makes a lot of sense now, as we might see a lot of indie games surfacing on this highly anticipated console.

Nintendo’s President Made Things Clear About AI Months Ago

Miyamoto was only following the path of the company’s president, Shutaro Furukawa. The Nintendo boss made the company’s views on using generative AI to develop games very clear, as they are not going to use it.

In a Q&A session with the investors in July, this is what he said about implementing AI in games (via TweakTown):

We have decades of know-how in creating optimal gaming experiences for our customers, and while we remain flexible in responding to technological developments, we hope to continue to deliver value that is unique to us and cannot be achieved through technology alone.

However, Furukawa acknowledged that AI and game development have been closely related, and this technology has been used in the past to control enemy character movements in the game. But using generative AI to develop games can make intellectual property rights vulnerable, as there will always remain a question of who owns the product that is made by using this technology, as per the president.

Nintendo’s stance of not using AI might look strange, as almost the whole gaming industry is into this technology now. Both the officials have stated their reasons, but after knowing the original reason, their stance looks a lot more viable now.

What’s your opinion on this? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.