A Google executive has claimed that most game development studios are already using AI tools behind the scenes, even if many are not openly discussing it.
Speaking in a recent interview with Mobilegamer.biz, Jack Buser, global director for games at Google Cloud, said that AI adoption across the industry is far more widespread than publicly acknowledged. According to Buser, “practically every major studio is now using some form of AI in development, but not all are comfortable disclosing it due to potential backlash.
Most Studios Already Use AI In Development
Operation Sports App
Your ultimate companion for sports gaming. Access in-depth coverage, thoughtful discussion, and a community built around the games—and sports—you love.
Your ultimate sports gaming companion.
Buser said that studios are already using tools like Gemini and Nano Banana Pro to handle repetitive, low-effort work, so developers can focus more on high-level creative work. But studios are reluctant to openly confirm the use of AI.
He also suggested that many players may not realize AI is already part of the games they enjoy, stating, “I think what players don’t realize is that their favorite games right now were already built with AI,” and backs up the statement, saying, “Those games have shipped. We did a survey around Gamescom last summer with studios all over the world. Roughly 9 out of 10 game developers told us, ‘Yeah, we’re using it.’
Basically, most studios are using AI, albeit for small, menial tasks that would normally waste a lot of time. But, because people think of AI content as slop and because of the overall hate towards it, studios just don’t outright talk about it. He expands on this by saying,
“Now you’ll see other surveys from other organizations that have that more around, like 40-50%. And you might ask yourself, well, that’s still a large number. It’s still almost half of the developers out there. What’s that gap? And that gap is basically the developers’ willingness to tell you whether the fact of the matter is it’s being used.”
Further into the interview, Buser expands on this by mentioning Capcom as an example,
“One of the big problems that they have is they’re building these massive worlds and they’ve got to fill it with content,” he said. “Just coming up with all the ideas for every pebble by the side of the road, every blade of grass, and having all those art reviews, the manual labor just starts piling up in pre production.”
“What they’re doing is they’re using Nano Banana and Gemini to rapidly generate just countless ideas, and then they’re talking to Gemini to actually go through those ideas and curate them… and of these thousands of things, here are the ones that are probably most interesting to you as the art director.
“And then the art director takes that and then gets the art team going on these items, the AI is already pre-filtered and pre-selected the probably really good looking pebbles on the side of the road – and then all of their creative energy gets focused towards the high value creative tasks – the main character, the big enemies, the main scene, objects, that kind of stuff.
AI Isn’t As Bad As People Think
While discussing AI use in game development, Buser also noted that if studios were more open about how they use AI, players would be more accepting of it. Because if there is no difference in the final product, and AI helps speed things up, people will stop being divisive over AI.
“They’ll start to realize this is actually helping me get my favorite games faster,” he said. “And I’m also getting more innovation in the industry because there’s more room to take risks, and now it’s not seven years waiting for one game, but that studio can make five games, and maybe they understand that only two of those five games will be a hit, but that’s okay because these three other games are really interesting and cool and would have never been made with the old model.
While Buser’s claims paint a picture of widespread adoption, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to measure the full extent of AI’s role in game development. But it’s hard to ignore that AI is becoming an increasingly significant part of how modern games are made, whether people like it or not.
Published: Apr 23, 2026 03:30 pm