Yesterday, it was reported that Square Enix was preparing to roll out a series of layoffs across its offices outside of Japan. This came on the same day as Square Enix publicly affirming its commitment to using generative AI in game development, stating that 70 percent of its QA work would be completed by generative AI by 2027. True enough, it’s being reported that QA workers have been caught in these alleged layoffs.
However, not everyone in the gaming industry agrees with the move. Larian‘s head of publishing, Michael Douse, says that it’s “stupid” to believe that QA workers can be replaced by generative AI, because their experience and expertise cannot be replicated, nor can the conversations that devs have with them about issues they encounter.
Larian’s Michael Douse Defends QA Workers Against AI
“QA are some of the most video games engaged people in any company,” says Douse, responding to the news of Square Enix replacing QA workers with AI. “They are integral to your community teams. To publishing. They give you the real feedback. They know what is good and what is bad before the audience does, and they are the most resilient department.
“AI and automation is clearly integral to QA for any large scale game but the idea that QA people can be replaced at a large scale is stupid because it supposes that the conversations with them can be replaced and they can’t,” he continues.
Douse goes on to say that QA work can also be a step on the ladder in a game developer’s career, allowing studios to hire promising devs from within. If all of that work is being done by AI, then the gaming industry could become even more inaccessible, losing out on talent.
Unfortunately, the efforts of those in QA are often overlooked, and the workers often find themselves bearing the brunt of the issues we see in the gaming industry. Whether it’s low pay, crunch, or mass layoffs, QA work is incredibly precarious, and now that could be the first department to fall as generative AI takes over.
Of course, there is still the chance that it just won’t work. Reportedly, that’s what EA has found out the hard way, as its own AI bot is said to be causing more problems than it addresses. producing mistakes that have to be fixed by an actual developer.
Date Founded
1996
CEO
Swen Vincke
Headquarters
Ghent, Belgium
Known For
Divinity