In a year where half the industry seems to be racing to bolt generative AI onto everything, Konami's games boss has offered a more sceptical read, and a refreshingly plain one.
Hideki Hayakawa, president of Konami Digital Entertainment, made the comments in the company's new business report, translated by Automaton and picked up by VGC. The usual pitch is that generative AI will massively lower the barrier to making games. Hayakawa's response is basically that the barrier already came down, and it did not change who makes the good stuff.
"The most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators."
His argument is that engines and user-generated content already made development far more accessible than it used to be, and the market did not suddenly fill with masterpieces as a result. The thing that actually matters, he reckons, is the "chemical reaction" between people on a team, and that is "not something that can be easily replaced."
He's not anti-AI, to be clear
This is not a line in the sand. Hayakawa also said AI could be a real opportunity, and that Konami supports its creators in weighing the risks and using new tools safely. So it reads less as "AI bad" and more as "AI is a tool, not the talent." After watching Ubisoft name a generative-AI project Motherbrain and Microsoft stand up an "Xbox Labs" AI division, that is a notably grounded thing for a company this size to put in writing.
Whether Konami holds that line when the spreadsheets get involved is the open question. But as a stated position, "the people are the point" is the one I would want my favourite studios writing down.
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