The owner of X, Elon Musk, shifted his focus away from sharing controversial content to expressing his opinion on the gaming industry. Musk claims that the entire industry has become too “woke” due to the dominance of large corporations. In response to this criticism, Musk plans to launch a new gaming studio with his own corporation, relying on AI technology to “make games great again.”
Elon Musk’s AI-Based Gaming Studio
Specifically, Musk discussed the gaming culture wars, criticizing the perceived “woke” elements in the market. Calling himself an avid gamer, Musk announced plans to launch an AI-based gaming studio, responding to concerns involving gaming developers and journalists, who are believed to be “ideologically captured.” Several questions surrounding Musk’s gaming studio’s viability have arisen in spite of his substantial resources. Although he’s achieved numerous successes, many of Musk’s ideas and predictions haven’t come to fruition. For instance, he predicted that his social media website, X, would become a publicly used banking app, but this prediction hasn’t materialized.
Elon Musk plans to use his xAI startup to make video games. He founded xAI on March, 9th 2023 in Nevada, however, its headquarters was moved to San Fransisco California. He recruited one of Google’s former employees of their DeepMind unit, Igor Babuschkin, as Chief Engineer. Officially, Musk announced the formation of xAI on July 12, 2023, corresponding to the number: forty-two. This number is a nod to Douglas Adams’ book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Specifically, a supercomputer within the book calculates the answer to life’s ultimate question as forty-two. This is fitting, considering xAI’s mission is to understand the universe.
Gaming Studio Challenges
The concept of an AI-based gaming studio remains unclear due to the gaming industry’s skepticism surrounding the widespread adoption of AI. While various fields have incorporated artificial intelligence, the resistance against it in gaming remains. Notably, both players and gaming developers have rejected AI-driven elements within video games’ art and storytelling. Whether these developers change their minds and join Musk’s AI-based gaming studio is up in the air, raising concerns that the project may not become a reality after all.
Elon Musk’s stance against corporations running the gaming industry is ironic. Particularly, he criticizes these massive corporations’ domination as the world’s richest man alive. Interestingly, Musk’s gaming studio rained $6 billion in Series B funding and has a value of $40 billion. In comparison, the market cap of Electronic Arts is $43 billion. By definition, Musk’s AI-based gaming studio would also dominate the gaming industry as a massive corporation, which raises concerns about his sincerity.
Video Game Creation Challenges
Regarding Musk’s gaming preferences, it’s currently unknown what type of games his studio would produce. Typically, the billionaire enjoys high-profile and expensive games, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Diablo 4. Specifically, Musk mastered Diablo 4, achieving world-class clear times, even stating he’s a top-20 player globally. However, just being a great gamer doesn’t necessarily mean success in making video games. Creating a video game at the same level as these high-budget games requires actual experience in game development.
Unfortunately, as rich as Musk is, he doesn’t have the credentials to create game content. Likewise, these types of games may take years to develop and require massive investments to complete. Furthermore, if Musk decides to pursue his own AI-based gaming studio, he may have to prepare for any potential challenges arising during production. What Musk means by “woke” and “ideologically captured” games remains unclear due to the ambiguity of these terms. Currently, video games, such as Stellar Blade, Black Myth: Wukong, and The First Descendant are considered examples, even though gamers across various ideological spectrums have enjoyed them.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, whether Elon Musk’s announcement materializes into something tangible remains uncertain. It’s also hard to tell whether Musk is serious or not as he makes spontaneous statements without falling through with them. Previously, the billionaire questioned the cost of Twitter before requiring it himself. Musk succeeded in creating his AI-based gaming studio is anyone’s guess but it seems like a daunting task even for one billionaire to complete.
