In an impassioned conclusion to his speech on the opening day of the Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show in Bangkok, Dead Space creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield declared that the gaming industry is in dire need of repair and he believes he knows how to go about it.
“We need to fix the gaming industry immediately,” Schofield told a room of gaming professionals. “It’s broken. It’s beat up, it’s beat up, our developers are beat up, they’ve been taking it on their heels for the last few years. We need to get it back to what it was, right? Instead of all this negativity.”
The first and perhaps most controversial step to take, according to Schofield, is for the gaming industry to broadly adopt the employ of generative AI as a standard part of the development toolkit.
“Artificial intelligence is not here to replace us,” Schofield continued. “It’s here to make us faster, better and more efficient. Artificial intelligence is for all of us, really. It’s not just for directors and artists, it’s for writers and marketing executives.
Next, Schofield believes that investors need to loosen the purse strings and start spending more on game development, and trust each studio with the right people.
“Come on, investors and executives, let’s stop this madness,” Schofield said. “You want to make a AAA game for, like, eight million dollars? You’ve got to be brave. If we start putting money back into the industry, we know it’s going to make money.”
“So I said, let’s start investing money, let’s be a little more diligent about it. We know we’re going to make money. But we have to make high-quality games and we have to give them to the right people.”
Finally, and perhaps most strangely considering he was giving the opening keynote at a rival gaming industry show, Schofield wished for the return of E3.
Schofield concluded his talk by reiterating that while he is fully interested in artificial intelligence, the most important aspect of game development is the people who create them, not the machines.
“Remember that ideas are the lifeblood of the industry,” Schofield told the developers in attendance. “And these ideas? They come from you.”
What do you think of Schofield’s plan to “fix” the gaming industry? Vote in the comments below!
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor in IGN’s Australian office and is currently attending the Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show.
