Electronic Arts goes deep into artificial intelligence for game development

At this year’s EA Investor Day — the game publisher’s presentation event to current and prospective investors — the future looks algorithmic as EA fully embraces AI for its game development.

The phrase was peppered throughout the event’s announcements, with AI involved in everything from game development to engagement capture in the periphery. In one example, EA COO Laura Miele mentioned that AI will act as a discovery tool for the 100 million assets available to developers. This, Miele argues, would “supercharge” development by both making shared assets between teams easier to find and easier to use. No longer will they have to struggle if they aren’t sure something that fits their game is already sitting finished and waiting to be used.

At another juncture, EA emphasized the use of AI for their EA Sports brand, the biggest sub-brand for Electronic Arts. Using a tactical AI system, EA Sports will leverage real world data to reflect how real teams and teammates play together. An ongoing issue of chemistry between two teammates that emerges throughout a season can be shown within the currently released titles in theory and not have to wait for it to be programmed into a new game.

All-in-all, Electronic Arts is diving headfirst into AI and machine learning in both developer- and consumer-facing angles.