Square Enix has confirmed that Foamstars, its upcoming PlayStation shooter, uses AI-generated art.
Speaking to VGC, producer Kosuke Okatani confirmed that Midjourney, an AI art tool used to turn text-based prompts into images, had been used for several assets within the game.
“All of the core elements in Foamstars – the core gameplay, and the things that make the game enjoyable – those are all made by hand. However, we did want to experiment with AI as well,” Okatani said.
“In terms of the content in the game, this makes up about 0.01% or even less, but we have dabbled in it by creating these icons in the game.”
Square Enix clarified the situation in a statement provided to VGC.
“AI was used in the creation of the in-game album covers for the music featured in Foamstar’s soundtrack. As developers, we’re always looking at new technologies to see how they can assist with game development,” it explained.
“In this instance, we experimented with Midjourney using simple prompts to produce abstract images. We loved what was created and used them as the final album covers players will see in the game. Everything else was created entirely by our development team.”
AI is a contentious matter across the gaming industry, with Grand Theft Auto 5 star Ned Luke slamming the use of AI to copy actors’ voices recently, calling the practice “fucking bullshit”. Just last week, Valve decided to update the Steam submission policy to crack down on the “illegal” use of AI in games, meaning developers will have to disclose exactly how they’re using AI in a game.
In other gaming news, Minecraft has partnered with Planet Earth 3 for a brand new map that is intended to educate on the “extraordinary realms of the natural world”.