In an impassioned conclusion to his keynote speech on the opening day of the Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show in Bangkok, Dead Space creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield said the games industry is in dire need of fixing, and he believes he knows how to do it.
“We need to fix the gaming industry now,” Schofield said to gaming industry professionals. “It's broken. It's broken, it's broken, our developers are broken, it's been beaten on the chin for the last couple of years. We need to return what it was, right? Instead of all this negativity.”
According to Schofield, the first and perhaps most controversial step is for the games industry to widely adopt the use of generative artificial intelligence as a standard part of the development toolkit.
“AI is not here to replace us,” Schofield continued. “It's here to make us faster, better and more efficient. And AI is for all of us, it really is. It's not just for directors and artists, but also for writers and marketing executives.”
“So I guess [games industry] CEOs, Owners, Founders… Let's start training our people to use AI. Start this as soon as possible. Who cares if I'm from EA, Activision, Namco or whoever, we have to work together at least in training and educating our people. That would be a huge help because I know we will start hiring people again.”
Further, Schofield believes investors need to loosen their wallets and start spending more on game development, as well as putting the right people in charge of each studio.
“Come on, investors and executives, let's stop this madness,” Schofield said. “You want to make a AAA game for like eight million dollars? You need to be brave again. If we start putting money into the industry again, we know it will make money.”
“In my opinion, you chose the wrong people to run the teams and the games, didn't you? [you need] a great, creative person who runs it. And then you put people in place to help with this and that. This is exactly how I work now, right? I still manage my studio somehow, but now I have people to help me, so I can be 100% or 98% sure of it. That's what these games need. I saw some of the people who were chosen and they were really good people, but they were in no way prepared to direct a game.”
“So I said, let's start putting money in, let's do our due diligence on it. We know we're going to make money. But we have to make quality games, and you have to give them to the right people.”
Finally, and perhaps most strangely considering he was giving the opening keynote at a rival games industry trade show, Schofield wished for E3 to return.
“Bring back E3,” Schofield said to quiet applause. “I mean, come on. E3 is the granddaddy of them all. And I'll tell you, every E3 I've been to has made my games better. And I know there's no formula that can show [return on investment] on this, [but] every game got better when you got there. You've talked to your friends, you've talked to your colleagues, everyone is happy to help you with new technology or show you the mechanics. When companies started moving beyond E3, I realized that this was the end and I started boycotting them because [that] this is not an industry that has worked together, it is an industry that is fragmented. And now E3 is gone.”
Schofield concluded his talk by reiterating that while he is all about artificial intelligence, the most important aspect of game development is the people making them, not the machines.
“Remember, ideas are the lifeblood of the industry,” Schofield said to the developers in attendance. “And these ideas? They come from you.”
What do you think of Schofield's plan to “fix” the gaming industry? Sound off in the comments below!
Tristan Ogilvy is a Senior Video Editor at IGN Australia, currently attending the Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show.
