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Sidharth Ojha - 18th Feb 2025

Proposal for Research Project

[Working title] Does AI & Generative Art Create Oversaturation In The Game Industry?

Summary

I would like to conduct a detailed research project to better understand how generative art and AI can lead to a greater quantity of games produced over a shorter period of time, and the impact that can have on the industry as a whole.

Why is it relevant?

I believe that in today’s day and age, we are experiencing an abundance of media in all of its forms, more than ever before. With the ease of art creation tools and platforms that are available to everyone, the markets for all media - not limited to video games but also film, music, etc - are in many ways saturated.

What effect does this have on the market, industry, artist, and consumer? How do we, as artists, navigate and find recognition in a market that is flooded with algorithm-oriented content?

As artists who hope to enter the video game industry and create high quality work, it is important for us to understand how the art creation landscape impacts the market as a whole, and how we can use these tools to the best benefit us.

Background and Context

With the acceleration of AI alongside more accessible and easy to use game development software, we are approaching a future where games are very easy to make, for anyone interested in making them, irrespective of whether they are a game artist or not. This creates an issue where developers can struggle to stand out, as well as making it harder for consumers to find quality games. The use of pre-made assets also contributes to the fast-paced, quantity-over quality approach to production, enabling low quality content to be produced quickly.

For example, a recent controversy with Activision using AI imagery in a Call of Duty event banner with an image of Santa with six fingers that was unrecognizable to fan audiences sparked outrage (Martin, 2024).

Recently, Elon Musk has announced a possible AI game studio where he claims to want to create games purely with AI (Tassi, 2024).

Who does this affect?

I believe that this over-saturation raises a quality vs quantity issue for everyone involved, for both players who want to be exposed to high quality games, and for artists and developers who may not need to create something actually exceptional in order to succeed.

For artists:

While the accessibility to generative AI can allow for more diversity within games and for more artist voices from around the world to be heard, it can also lead to a culture where games are quickly played and forgotten.

Since algorithms play such a huge part in discoverability, the metric for a game’s success can be drastically different. This can prove especially difficult for indie developers to get noticed amidst the noise.

Games that are not as challenging may succeed more, limiting the creativity and expression of artists

For consumers and players:

It may become much more difficult for a consumer to find a game they like amidst a sea of content

The abundance of low quality games can impact the player’s attention span. "With low levels of attention, highly profitable sectors will be most prominently represented..." Anderson, S.P. and de Palma, A. (2012) This means that player expectations can change to want only games that provide instant gratification, detracting from the enjoyable experience of video game mechanics and storytelling

Practices such as using microtransactions to keep a player “hooked” on the game may become more prevalent, creating an unfair addictiveness for players. This also affects small game developers: “...market dynamic favors only these few large companies due to factors like economies of scale and high switching costs and in contrast, small-scale companies have no choice but to get involved in monetization models—such as pay-to-win, paywalls, and loot boxes— that could exploit players economically…” Lee, C. S., & Seo, H. (2024)

We have already seen this take place in visual media, with long-form content such as films or even Youtube videos being replaced by short-form content such as reels and TikToks in the mainstream. If games are all competing for the consumer’s attention in such a climate, how will this impact the design and mechanics of the game? Players may now expect a game to be engaging in a manner that is more instantly gratified, not allowing for more slow and rewarding forms of storytelling. Practices such as using microtransactions to keep a player “hooked” on the game may become more prevalent, with even smaller and indie developers having no choice but to resort to them.

How are platforms involved?

Platforms such as Steam and Epic Games store play a vital role in adapting to this change, not by prioritizing algorithm-based discoverability, but by balancing quality control with accessibility.

Methodology and Approach

I will first begin my research by compiling a reading list from relevant sources that dig further into my chosen topic.

Possible sources and materials

Lee, C.S. and Seo, H. (2024) 'Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games', Journal of Consumer Culture, 24(1), pp. 82–99. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/14695405231195711.

This paper appears to explore how players are exploited by viral marketing tools within games that negatively impacts their gameplay and also social experience.

Young, C.J. (2021) 'Unity Production: Capturing the Everyday Game Maker Market', in O. Sotamaa and J. Švelch (eds.) Game Production Studies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 141–158. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048551736-009.

The paper explores the use of free and accessible production tools by the company Unity Technologies.

Banks, J. and Keogh, B. (2021) 'More Than One Flop from Bankruptcy: Rethinking Sustainable Independent Game Development', in O. Sotamaa and J. Švelch (eds.) Game Production Studies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 159–176. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048551736-010.

The paper discusses how indie developers can be successful in today’s world.

van Roessel, L. and Švelch, J. (2021) 'Who Creates Microtransactions: The Production Context of Video Game Monetization', in O. Sotamaa and J. Švelch (eds.) Game Production Studies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 197–216. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048551736-012.

This paper is an in depth exploration of microtransactions in gameplay.

Brunt, C.S., King, A.S. and King, J.T. (2020) 'The influence of user-generated content on video game demand', Journal of Cultural Economics, 44(1), pp. 35–56. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-019-09349-0.

This paper discusses how indie games can better distribute themselves in the current digital network with user generated content, and the market success trends of indie games.

Alongside this, I will conduct an interview with an industry professional and subject matter expert. I will begin working on identifying this individual and research what insight they can offer me for my research.

I will compile a list of questions before I approach my interviewee so that I have clarity on what information I require from them, and ensure I don’t waste their time.

Sample questions/points of discussion:

Has this artist experienced the over-saturation of media in their industry?

If so, in what ways have they perceived this to impact their personal work? What are their insights into how the market has shifted in recent years?

How do they think AI impacts their work?

What are the creative possibilities and limitations of AI and procedural generation technology on game development?

Has game development become democratized? What are the pros and cons of this?

What do they believe we must be cognizant of in our work to navigate this?

What are their insights on the marketing and distribution of their work in today’s day and age?

How have recent revenue streams and models, such as microtransactions, crowdfunding and patronage, affected an artist’s prospects?

Conclusion

As artists and designers, and also as players who have love for the artform, I believe it is important for us to inquire into the role we play in this period of change. With my interview, I want to understand how successful artists in the industry today perceive and navigate the future, and how it is possible to achieve both creative and commercial success in this climate. I would also like to understand how the abundance of games in the market can affect pricing, and the revenue and sustainability of new artists and developers.

Since my primary goal with this MA is to conceptualize and create a portfolio for a future game I would like to create, I would like to use the insights from this interview and my reading to inform the work I create during the rest of the course. I see this as a valuable opportunity to connect with an industry professional whose trajectory I can learn from. I hope to use this information in order to better plan for the type of work I create, as well as how I network and distribute my work, and create connections with other peers.

Sources:

Anderson, S.P. and de Palma, A. (2012) 'Competition for attention in the Information (overload) Age', RAND Journal of Economics, 43(1), pp. 1–25. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2171.2011.00155.x.

Windows Central (2025) ‘Activision faces backlash over AI-generated images in Black Ops 6’, Windows Central. Available at: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/activision-faces-backlash-over-ai-generated-images-black-ops-6 Tassi, P. (2024) ‘Elon Musk says he’ll make an X.AI game studio to make games great again’, Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/11/29/elon-musk-says-hell-make-an-xai-game-studio-to-make-games-great-again/

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