Zero Escape Writer Supports AI, Says His New Studio’s Game Wouldn’t Have Been Canceled If He’d Used It to Cut Costs

The reputation that Kotaro Uchikoshi has built for surreal and metatextual storytelling through games such as Hundred Line: Final Defense Academy and the Zero Escape series means it can be hard to tell when he is being entirely candid and serious. For instance, when he announced his new studio, Crash Keys, by revealing that the game he was developing there had been canceled, many assumed it was an alternate reality game rather than the truth. Yet in a new interview, he insists the studio and the cancellation of its game were real, adding that the project might not have been canceled had he been permitted to use AI.

Asked why he started a new studio, he spoke with Famitsu, telling the publication it was partly to make more “Uchikoshi-like” games while continuing to work with his friends and partners at Too Kyo 游戏, the studio founded by Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka. “Even if someone thinks, ‘I want to work with Uchikoshi,’ the fact that I’m affiliated with Too Kyo 游戏 makes it harder for them to reach out. On top of that, they feel cautious about it and frame their request to work with me in a way that also takes Kodaka and the studio into consideration. I ultimately felt that if I wanted to collaborate more with people interested in funding a project that’s distinctly ‘Uchikoshi’ in style, or simply wanted to work with me, it would be better to have my own studio that serves my personal identity.”

He describes the cancellation of the game previously in development at Crash Keys as among his worst days as a developer. After a meeting with his publisher confirmed the news, he posted on his personal social media account that he may not have had to cancel the project had he been able to use AI to cut costs and shorten development time, thoughts he elaborated on in the interview.

“When it comes to the state of the current games industry, I really feel that AI is playing a huge role,” Uchikoshi explains. “For mid-sized teams like ours, especially those making adventure games, even indie games created by individuals could now be seen as rivals. Some of these individuals are using AI with very small teams to produce expansive games with rich content in a short time at a low cost. When compared to their budget and development times, it’s very difficult for a mid-sized studio to compete. So what should we do? I believe we have no choice but to use AI ourselves.

“I understand there’s resistance to using AI in game development. However, personally, I am a proponent of AI, and I believe we should be more proactive about using it to make games. I don’t think AI diminishes human creativity in any form. When it comes to visual design such as illustrations and graphics, design, and of course story, the origin and inspiration must come from human ideas. However, when it comes to the subsequent steps, such as refining and polishing that, I’m perfectly okay with entrusting that task to AI to some extent. By using AI this way, I think it actually brings creators closer to realizing what they want to make.

“For example, if you ask a staff member to make a graphic adjustment and give instructions to move something by a few dots, you may start by asking them to move it 10 dots, but realize when you see the revised version it doesn’t look right. So you tell them, actually, move it 5 dots to the right, and when they fix it, realize immediately that, you know, maybe it should be 3 dots. If you keep going back and forth three or four times, they will lose their patience and their motivation will drop. But AI can handle that endlessly without a single complaint. So, if previously a final product may be 70-80 percent of a creator’s vision, this can bring it as close to 100 percent of what the creator initially envisioned.”

In his view, it may also reduce game development time in an era where even five years is quick. If, with the help of AI, it takes only half that time, it may not mean you cut staff, but it may mean you can work on another project in that time instead, one also fueled by AI. So, he doesn’t view it in a negative light, despite the concerns of players.

Previously, Uchikoshi said Hundred Line may be “one of the last times” a game of that scale would be made without AI. It seems he is willing to actively ensure that statement proves true.