AI in game development remains a contentious subject among gamers, and it turns out the majority of game developers think it might be a net negative for the industry, too.

That’s according to survey findings from the Skillsearch Games & Immersive Salary & Satisfaction Report 2026, which found that among game developers interviewed for the survey, 64% of them felt that AI is having a ‘negative impact’ on the creative industry.

Only 30% of respondents had a positive view towards using AI in creative projects.

According to the research, 52% of respondents say that AI has been integrated into their workflows. The top three concerns that developers raise are the ethical use of AI, the loss of creative authenticity, and job security for employees.

However, there are three benefits also mentioned in the research paper. Some respondents explain that AI has led to increased efficiency, the ability to ‘do more with smaller teams’ and lower development costs.

Although gamers themselves remain skeptical about AI use in game development, there are plenty of studios embracing the technology.

Embark Studios, the developer behind ARC Raiders, explained earlier this year that its studio was able to iterate quickly on the extraction shooter thanks to AI.

The studio famously used AI text-to-speech technology to voice its cast of NPCs at launch. However, those have now been replaced by human voices now that the game has found its feet.

CEO of Embark Studios, Patrick Soderlund, said at the time: ““AI may be a race, but the winners won’t be the first movers – the winners will be the ones who understood the challenge.

“Think of game development as auto mechanics. The tools are available to everyone, but not everyone has the knowledge and experience to use them. That’s where Nexon is different.”

However, other development studios are standing their ground and insisting AI doesn’t have a place within its development pipeline. Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of GTA 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive, recently told GamesIndustry.biz, “Specifically with regards to GTA 6, Generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building. Their worlds are handcrafted. That’s what differentiates them.

“They’re built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood. They’re not procedurally generated, they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes great entertainment.”

However, he does accept that AI is being introduced elsewhere in the company, explaining: “This company’s products have always been built with machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“We’ve actually always been a leader in the space, and right now we have hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company, including within our studios. And we’re already seeing instances where generative AI tools are driving costs and time efficiencies.”

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