Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino has apologized after confirming that generative AI was used in the studio’s recent digital showcase.
As reported by VGC, Hino admitted the showcase used AI on featured reveals for Professor Layton and Yo-Kai Watch titles after viewers spotted what they believed to be signs of AI-generated footage.
Hino addressed the backlash on X/Twitter, saying the studio had used AI to make the presentation “more spectacular” as an experiment, and apologized for making fans “uncomfortable.”
He was keen to stress that the games themselves aren’t AI-made, saying the “charm and individuality” of Level-5’s titles all come from “human hands.” He said AI’s role at the studio is mostly about efficiency, such as converting artwork into polygons, rather than generating creative content from scratch, partly in response to the studio’s goal of cutting development time on major releases from five years to two.
Last week we reported that 61% of European game developers are concerned that generative AI will place them under pressure to work faster and produce more, but only 35% think that AI might cause them to lose their job or reduce demand for their role.