Gaming in Southeast Asia is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the integration of artificial intelligence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming industry thrived as online presence increased, providing a fun way to pass the time and stay connected with friends and family. AI in gaming involves using advanced techniques and technologies to create more dynamic, responsive, and immersive gameplay experiences. This includes programming non-player characters (NPCs) and other in-game entities to exhibit intelligent behaviours, make decisions, and interact with players and the game world in a lifelike manner.
The use of AI offers numerous opportunities for game developers. It can automate mundane tasks such as asset creation, improve productivity, and allow developers to focus on more critical aspects of game development.
The Southeast Asian gaming market is not just growing; it's thriving. With increased internet penetration and the widespread availability of low-cost smartphones, the video games market in Southeast Asia is on target to achieve revenue of USD 6.1 million by 2024. The expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.80% from 2024 to 2027 further reinforces the industry's promising future, resulting in a projected market volume of USD 7.7 million by 2027.
The applications of AI in Gaming
The use of artificial intelligence in the gaming industry has advanced significantly since IBM's Deep Blue defeated world chess champion, Garry Kasparov. Today, AI enhances user experiences and makes games more engaging, offering developers numerous benefits by saving time and reducing resource consumption.
One application in gaming is procedural generation, which automates the creation of worlds, textures, models, objects, and other assets, enabling developers to build rich, vivid game environments quickly. This includes generating numerous maps for game dungeons, complex open-world scenarios, and a limitless variety of minor game assets that would be impractical to produce manually.
Furthermore, it also significantly enhances character development, creating complex, believable characters with unique personalities, backstories, and interactions that add depth and realism to games. Non-player characters (NPCs) can be imbued with variability in their reactions to game events and player actions, fostering meaningful connections with players.
AI's impact also extends to new business models, such as analysing a player's spending habits to identify opportunities for new in-app purchases and subscriptions. By observing player behaviour over time, the algorithm can personalise gaming experiences, uniquely tailoring narrative branches, challenges, and rewards to each individual.
Challenges of misuse of AI
The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI tools, poses a potential threat to developers' creativity. As these tools gain popularity, there is increasing concern that reliance on them may erode originality. Copyright issues surrounding generative AI—currently the focus of several legal cases—are a significant obstacle to its broader application in gaming.
Additionally, numerous reports suggest that jobs in concept art and other traditionally entry-level roles are feeling the most impact.
While most AI tool developers assert that it is not their intention that their products replace human artists, there is a worry about their roles becoming supplementary rather than central. For instance, AI image generators can produce visually impressive results from simple text prompts but often struggle with specific details like rendering hands or chairs. Moreover, the proliferation of clone games—where new titles closely mimic existing ones, such as the case of an indie developer who remade an original game—raises concerns about originality and creativity in the industry.
Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence
Despite the challenges posed by the misuse of AI, developers can gain a deeper understanding of how it can enhance game designs and mechanics through workshops, online courses, and university collaborations. These offer accessible platforms for learning about algorithms, machine learning techniques, and practical applications tailored to gaming. Developers can improve game development processes by acquiring these skills and creating more innovative and engaging experiences.
Furthermore, Cloud AI services from providers such as Google Cloud AI and Microsoft Azure offer scalable and robust artificial intelligence capabilities with minimal upfront investment in infrastructure. These services enable developers to leverage advanced features like machine learning, natural language processing, and real-time data analysis without investing heavily in physical hardware or managing complex server setups.
The future of gaming in Southeast Asia promises to be transformative, with emerging trends likely to shape the industry. As AI technologies advance, more sophisticated applications for AI in gaming, such as higher emotional depth in NPCs that exhibit emotional responses and personalities and contribute to the depth of storytelling, will evolve.
Through natural language processing and emotion recognition, NPCs can express a range of feelings based on the context of their interactions with the player. Additionally, hyper-realistic gaming experiences, driven by advanced procedural generation techniques, will increasingly blur the boundaries between reality and virtual worlds.
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