Court documents from the ongoing Epic Games vs Google antitrust case reveal the internet giant wanted to take over the Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer, and was willing to work with shareholder Tencent to complete a buyout.
07.11.2023 - 09:39 / gadgets.ndtv.com / Ai
Microsoft is teaming up with Inworld AI to create game development tools for Xbox, enabling developers to create characters, generate entire scripts and quests, and more. The multi-year deal brings an AI design copilot and an AI character runtime engine to the forefront, both of them being totally optional to use and to varying degrees. Of course, the use of AI in art has been criticised by many for simply lacking originality, in addition to running the risk of fewer jobs for artists — a growing fear among many considering the alarming number of layoffs seen at game studios this year in an attempt to cut costs.
“At Xbox, we believe that with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games,” Haiyan Zhang, GM, Xbox Gaming AI, said in a blog post. “This partnership will bring together: Inworld's expertise in working with generative AI models for character development, Microsoft's cutting-edge cloud-based AI solutions including Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Research's technical insights into the future of play, and Team Xbox's strengths in revolutionizing accessible and responsible creator tools for all developers.”
The aforementioned AI design copilot is a toolset that will help game designers turn prompts into scripts and dialogue trees. In contrast, the character runtime will enable dynamically generated plot beats and quests. We've already seen heavy AI integration in games by way of procedural generation — a more recent example being the 1000+ planets in Starfield. Not to mention, enemy AI has been around for way longer.
Today, we announced a partnership with @Xbox.
With the advent of generative AI, there's an opportunity to leverage cutting-edge innovations to foster limitless creativity and unparalleled immersion.#AI #gamedev #indiedevhttps://t.co/fHp56zghEJ
Inworld made headlines in August when it launched a modded story mode for Grand Theft Auto V, Sentient Streets, in which players had to investigate the rise of a bizarre AI-worshipping cult — a segment loaded with characters that spoke in AI-generated dialogue, on the fly. The mod was later taken down by publisher Take-Two, leaving a permanent strike on the creator Bloc's YouTube channel. As per The Verge, Inworld's AI technology can also be used for narration in top-down RPGs to warn players about any events awaiting off-screen and respond to questions like we've seen in the past year with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Microsoft has also been heavily banking on artificial intelligence, having made a $10 billion (about Rs. 83,254 crore) investment in OpenAI. The company has also integrated AI tools into its popular suite of services and also added an AI copilot to Windows.
Despite being a Microsoft-affiliated AI
Court documents from the ongoing Epic Games vs Google antitrust case reveal the internet giant wanted to take over the Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer, and was willing to work with shareholder Tencent to complete a buyout.
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Last month, Morgan Stanley analysts predicted that Microsoft and Sony could benefit from the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in video games, stating that both companies will be “the most clear-cut beneficiaries of AI adoption in the game industry”. As development costs increase and product prices remain stagnant, more and more developers are adopting AI tools, which could help cut costs by 15 percent. Microsoft has now announced that it is partnering with Character Engine for AI NPCs called Inworld AI to develop AI tools. Let us take a closer look.
. The use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry is controversial. However, Microsoft presents it as simply a new tool for game developers.
Xbox has announced a multi-year deal with Inworld to build AI dialogue and narrative tools at scale.