Industry

Larian Studios Criticizes Elon Musk’s AI game plans: “We don’t need another cash grab”

The Baldur’s Gate 3 publishing director warns that chasing trends like AI could turn games into soulless products.

Update: Oct 7th, 2025 21:41 CEST

Generative artificial intelligence has been one of the main topics in recent years. A few months ago, Elon Musk announced his plans to create a video game studio to “make games great again”... whatever that means, because Elon Musk clearly hasn’t touched a video game in recent years, despite his claims to the contrary. Despite this, the xAI CEO recently stated on social media that by 2026, the company will be able to make a video game by the end of 2026, and it will be “great.”

In response to these comments, Larian Studios’ publishing director, Michael Douse, had something to share on his X account (formerly Twitter). Although the director acknowledges the role of artificial intelligence as a tool, it is not something that will solve the “big problems of the industry.”

Genuinely what this industry needs is not more mathematically produced, psychologically trained gameplay loops, rather more expressions of worlds that folks are engaged with, or want to engage with. AI has its place as a tool, but we have all the tools in the world and they… https://t.co/eL98XeLGW8
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 6, 2025

The industry doesn’t need another cash grab

In his post, Douse concludes by commenting on how times have changed, and how physical stores used to decide what was sold and what wasn’t. Now, everything is in the hands of publishers, and as has happened with other technologies, artificial intelligence is expected to resolve all these issues, especially when it comes to money. In Douse’s words, “So much of tech (VR, cloud, etc.) has been a VC cash grab. We don’t need another cash grab; we need sustainability. That’s what the tools could be good for. Definitely not replacing people. [...] There simply is no resonance without mutual respect. There is no mutual respect without respect for craft. There is no craft without the human touch; the relative skill issue, or ‘the exhibition of otherness.’ To turn games into digital, emotionless content is to abandon all resonance... which is why people play! ”