Todd Howard, the executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, has shared his thoughts on AI use in game development, calling it a “tool.” The Bethesda lead isn’t alone in expressing his opinion, as many developers and publishers have been sharing their thoughts on the technology and its use in the game industry recently.
AI’s use in game development has been a divisive subject, to say the least. Opinions on the matter vary wildly, with some developers fearing the loss of their jobs and others seeing advantages to using the technology. Outspoken gamers have also shared a fair number of objections to its use in games.
Todd Howard Talks AI in Game Development
The Bethesda exec shared his thoughts recently on the use of AI in making games with Eurogamer, referring to AI as a tool. Howard said that creative intention is “number one”, but added that “I think we look at it as a tool for, is there a way we can use it to help us go through some iterations that we do ourselves faster. Not in generating things, but we are always working on our toolset for how we build our worlds or check things.” He went on to say that it’s important to “protect the artistry” and that what makes Bethesda’s games special is the “human intention” that goes into it.
While not confirmed by Howard or Bethesda, it sounds as though AI could play a role in the production of Bethesda’s future games. Currently, the studio is working on the development of the long-awaited Elder Scrolls 6. Fallout 5 is further down the pipeline, as it’s been reportedly greenlit, but likely won’t enter full-fledged development until The Elder Scrolls 6 is complete. With current estimates placing the release of The Elder Scrolls 6 as no earlier than 2027, and potentially as far away as 2028 or beyond, it stands to reason that AI may be used much more frequently by the game industry as a whole by that point.
However, there has been a fair amount of blowback from gamers due to the use of AI. A Call of Duty player got a refund from Steam after discovering that Black Ops 7‘s calling cards appeared to be utilizing gen AI, while other Steam users have called for stronger AI labeling on the platform. The Amazon Fallout TV series, which Todd Howard is an executive producer for, also received considerable blowback in 2023 when an early promo appeared to have used generative AI, with odd errors like gibberish text and three-legged pedestrians.
Even among developers and publishers, there’s no clear-cut agreement on the use of AI. EA developers expressed frustration over being told to use an AI GPT in their development work, while a former God of War developer defended the use of AI in game development. Epic threw shade at Steam for labeling games using AI, saying it “made no sense,” but Steam has remained firm in doing so. Many of those who worked on Baldur’s Gate, including the actors and publishing director, have slammed AI for various reasons. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser recently noted that it could do some tasks “brilliantly,” but not all, and shared concerns over the technology will break down as it continues to “eat itself” by feeding off information on the internet that AI itself originally generated. Meanwhile, studios like Capcom have been “experimenting” with AI, games like ARC Raiders have utilized it, and Hasbro previously admitted to using AI in the production of Magic: The Gathering cards and Dungeons & Dragons.
For now, it’s unclear if AI is here to stay, or if its faults outweigh the benefits in the long-term. In any case, while it sounds as though Bethesda may be tinkering with AI tools behind the scenes, it doesn’t sound as though its future games will be utilizing generative AI in place of human artists.
- Date Founded
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June 28, 1986
- Headquarters
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Rockville, Maryland, United States
- CEO
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Todd Howard
- Subsidiaries
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Bethesda Game Studios
