Netflix's stabs at trying to do a prestige videogame haven't really worked out much for it, all told. Despite really revving up back in 2021, and starting its own gaming studio in 2022, it's also, uh, shut that gaming studio down, with nary a trio of As to its name despite promises and golden words.
Despite falling short, the Vice President of Netflix Games, Mike Verdu, was able to cling on, and was given a new role as VP for GenAI for Games. He then immediately got into a pair of AI-generated boots and took to LinkedIn to wax prophetic about his new position, which he occupied for a grand total of four months before vanishing into the night, GameFile reports. Netflix confirmed Verdu's departure to the site.
I'd like to take a second to just go over some of Verdu's glowing words which, again, I must stress, were written only four months ago:
"I don't think I've been this excited about an opportunity in this industry since the '90s, when we saw a new game launch every few months that redefined what was possible. It was an incredible time to be making games as talented creators showed all of us what the future looked like. Guess what? We're back to those days of seemingly unlimited potential and the rapid pace of innovation, which resulted in mind-blowing surprises for players every few months."
The choice of words, "every few months", is a little unfortunate. Given it has quite literally been a few months and now he's out the door—still, Verdu really seemed knee-deep in the sauce in those halcyon days of November, 2024. "Many view this technology with fear, but I am a game-maker at heart and I see its potential to unlock all of us, to create mind-blowing new experiences for players, to lift us to new heights. Yes, we'll have to adapt and change, but when have we failed to meet that challenge as an industry?"
When, indeed. Listen—I'm being very glib, here, so I do want to outright state that AI isn't exactly the devil. Deep learning programs have plenty of reasonable, boring uses in game development—there's also upscaling tech, which we're having an increasingly mixed relationship with, but on the whole do have the genuine potential to do some cool stuff.
On the development side of things, WoW's a good example—it's been using deep learning AI not to generate art assets or do writing, but to handle busywork, like fitting armour to different models. Meanwhile over in Call of Duty, the tech appears to've made genuine strides in moderating online games and reducing voice chat toxicity. It ain't all bad.
But jeez, am I tired about hearing about the brave new AI future that's totally around the corner this time, you guys. Maybe I'll eat my hat in the year 2050 when we're all plugged into the mainframe, but for now, it really does seem like the use cases of AI in game development are… well, kinda boring. The speculative, neo-NPC nonsense hasn't really spun up into anything. Even when a studio is using AI to cut corners and pay creatives less, it's pretty unpopular. I am distinctly unshocked that Verdu's brave new world is yet to come to fruition.
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