Square Enix “dabbled” with AI technology for Foamstars

Square Enix's upcoming team shooter Foamstars will have a small amount of AI art, the developer has said.

Speaking with VGCFoamstars producer Kosuke Okatani said the team had “dabbled” with AI program Midjourney – a known AI tool that converts text into art – but the majority of the game has been crafted by hand.

“All of the core elements in Foamstars – the core gameplay, and the things that make the game enjoyable – those are all made by hand,” Okatani said.

According to the developer, the total AI generated work in Foamstars makes up “about 0.01 percent or even less” of the game, with Okatani stating Square Enix wanted to “experiment” with the technology for its upcoming release.

In a separate statement, Square Enix said AI was used in the “creation of the in-game album covers for the music featured in the Foamstars soundtrack.” The developer further reiterated it was experimenting with the technology.

“In this instance, we experimented with Midjourney using simple prompts to produce abstract images. We loved what was created and used them as the final album covers players will see in the game. Everything else was created entirely by our development team,” it said .

This news comes weeks after the company's CEO Takashi Kiryu said Square Enix will be “aggressive in applying AI” in its annual new year letter.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential implications had for some time largely been subjects of academic debate,” he wrote. “However, 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.

“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.”

But while Square Enix may be keen, there are many out there who are still skeptical about AI and its implications across the industry. Most recently, Ned Luke, the voice actor behind Michael De Santa in Grand Theft Auto 5, called out a web3 company for using his voice as the basis of an unofficial AI chatbot.

For more on Foamstars, our Ed has laid out everything you need to know about its season pass and arrival on PlayStation Plus here.