Square Enix, the creator of the ever-iconic Final Fantasy 14, has stated that it plans to “be aggressive” in its pursuit of the use of AI in 2024, claiming that the tool will “reshape” the company’s creations, as well as its internal programming workflows.
It’s no secret that Square Enix has an interest in implementing the latest tech into both its publishing and development ecosystems. In last year’s New Year letter, the FFXIV creator doubled down on its plans to implement NFTs into its upcoming games and other products. But, a result of 2023’s rise of AI means that the company is now planning to make use of that, too.
As part of the 2024 New Year letter, president and representative director Takashi Kiryu states that the three new areas Square Enix is looking to invest in are “blockchain entertainment/Web 3.0, AI, and the cloud.”
On AI specifically, he notes that “the introduction of ChatGPT, which allows anyone to easily produce writing or translations or to engage in text-based dialogue, sparked the rapid spread of generative AIs. Its release made it apparent that the applicability of generative AI was by no means limited to text, and the subsequent months saw a quick succession of launches of new services and content that expanded generative AI into a variety of domains with close ties to digital entertainment, including images, video, and music.
“I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape what we create, but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming.”
As a result, Square Enix plans to “be aggressive in applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to both our content development and our publishing functions,” going on to state that “we are currently working to modify our organizational structure and optimize our resource allocations to support these efforts.”
AI, and services like ChatGPT specifically, have come under tremendous scrutiny in 2023. Embark Studios’ new hit FPS game, The Finals, was widely criticized for its use of AI voice acting, and the now-infamous The Day Before was also slammed for what appeared to be AI-generated voices and text.
How Square Enix will implement the system for future releases remains unseen, but with the FFXIV Dawntrail release date on the shimmering horizon, it’s set to be an exciting year for the developer. Or, if Eorzea isn’t really for you, we have a list of all the best MMORPGs.
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