Square Enix, the creator of Final Fantasy, is using AI-generated art in its next game

After announcing earlier this month that the company was planning an “aggressive” move in its use of artificial intelligence tools, video game giant Square Enix on Tuesday confirmed the use of artificial images in the upcoming Foamstars game.

According to a video game news agency report VGKSquare Enix used artificial intelligence to create in-game album covers featuring music from the Foamstars soundtrack.

“As developers, we are always looking for new technologies to see how they can help develop games,” a Square Enix spokesperson said. VGK. “In this case, we experimented with Midjourney, using simple signals to create abstract images.”

Foamstars is a 4v4 shooter game developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4 and 5. Players use foam-firing weapons to battle other teams, using the foam to create terrain on the fly and gain an advantage over their enemies.

It is marketed as a “party shooter” and has been compared in appearance to Nintendo’s Splatoon series. Subscribers to Sony’s PlayStation Plus membership program will be able to download and save Foamstars from February 6 to March 4. After that, the game will be sold for $30 through the PlayStation Store.

While Square Enix acknowledged the use of generative artificial intelligence to create the album cover, the company emphasized that humans are behind everything else in the upcoming game.

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence models that use signals to create images, text, videos, and music. Platforms such as Midjourney, ChatGPT and Claude AI have become flagship products in the emerging consumer-facing AI market.

“We value what was created and are using them as the final album covers that players will see in the game,” Square Enix said. “Everything else was completely created by our development team.”

Despite resistance from gamers, Square Enix and the video game industry as a whole have begun to use generative artificial intelligence in the creative process. Other AAA game studios, including Blizzard Entertainment, Roblox, Ubisoft and NCSoft, are taking advantage of artificial intelligence. In August, Call of Duty developer Activision announced it would use artificial intelligence to moderate and monitor profanity online. Square Enix has been particularly vocal about this.

“We also intend to be aggressive in our use of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, both in our content development and in our publishing functions,” Square Enix President Takashi Kiryu said in a letter released in January.

According to Kiryu, AI will improve productivity in game development and will be used for “marketing purposes.” In April, Square Enix’s artificial intelligence division showed off an updated AI version of the 1983 text-based game The Portopia Serial Murder Case.

Square Enix, known for Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, has also invested in Viennese startup Atlas, which transforms text and images into 3D worlds using generative artificial intelligence. In November, after Atlas emerged from stealth, Hideaki Uehara, general manager of investments and business development at Square Enix, outlined a use case for generative AI in games.

“In recent years, the rising cost of game development has become a challenge for the entire gaming industry, and generative AI is expected to help optimize this process in new and exciting ways,” Uehara said.

Edited by Andrew Hayward