Artificial intelligence is changing the way video games are developed, but human creativity and oversight remain essential. This was the consensus among participants in the panel discussion, Game Worlds: Who Is the Real Creator?
As Alexander Yegorov, head of media and indie games at VK Play, explained, the gaming industry is part of the creative economy, and generative AI is affecting the entire content creation cycle. It can help at every stage, from initial concept art sketches and script development to programming, game world design, and content production.
Andrey Karelin, head of business development at VK Play, said that in generative content, quantity currently outweighs quality. He noted, however, that AI allows smaller developers to refine individual game elements in greater depth. Generating a large number of options does not always reduce costs, though, as it requires significant spending on tokens and subsequent refinement. He added that AI agents would eventually be able to write and review code independently, leaving developers to oversee their work. “Only high‑level developers will remain – those who make sure the agents don’t do anything foolish. That’s where we’ll see production costs come down at every stage, because the very expensive people will disappear but hopefully, cheaper tokens will become available,” Andrey Karelin said.
Agate Academy CEO Restya Winda Astari said during the discussion that it is important to preserve the human experience when creating AI-powered products. She added that game development is also a creative process.
“We need to abandon the idea that game creation is just a technical task. There are still creative elements that are uniquely human: we convey information and tell stories,” she said.
Advisor on Creative and Digital Industries and International Cooperation Juan Manuel Rincon emphasized that, even as technology advances, creativity remains rooted in personal experience, feelings, values, and individual perception. He also stressed the importance of understanding the essence and substance of the content being created.
“To create something, we have to understand the essence and substance of what we’re doing,” he concluded.
