How games with AI characters is the future – tech will add ‘tremendous realism’ to NPCs
Studios are turning to AI-powered non-player characters for more realistic and in-depth interactions, but concerns exist over the tech’s use
For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) to help shepherd gamers in their journeys.
But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue, and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games.
In the multiplayer game Retail Mage, players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson – and wizard – they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they would like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper.
A player’s interactions with the shop and NPCs around them – from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation – are fuelled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop.
“We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them,” said Michael Yichao, co-founder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created Retail Mage.
The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on.
