The gaming world evolves as AI takes the joystick—but it hasn’t won players’ hearts yet.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been a cornerstone of gaming, enhancing player experiences through smarter non-player characters (NPCs), procedural content generation and dynamic storytelling. From the simple yet groundbreaking AI-driven enemies in Pac-Man (1980) to the complex NPC behaviors in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, AI has consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in interactive entertainment. But now, the gaming industry may have reached its boldest milestone yet.
Traditionally, AI in gaming focused on creating immersive interactions and game worlds. However, the recent debut of an entirely AI-generated game, Oasis, has sparked a monumental shift. This article takes a closer look at Oasis, its development journey and the mixed public reception it has garnered.
Image by Oasis via GitHub
Released on October 31, 2024, Oasis is the first game to be entirely AI-generated. It’s the brainchild of a collaboration between Decart, an Israeli AI company founded by Dean Leitersdorf, and Etched, a Silicon Valley hardware startup co-founded by Robert Wachen. The partnership began in 2022, driven by a shared interest in AI technologies like OpenAI’s GPT-3 and their potential to transform game development by generating environments and mechanics without traditional coding. Backed by a US$21 million investment from prominent names such as Oren Zeev and Sequoia Capital, the project was ambitious from the outset.
What makes Oasis special is its use of “next-frame prediction” AI technology to anticipate player actions in real time. Instead of relying on a traditional game engine, the game’s transformer-based AI model was trained on millions of hours of Minecraft gameplay footage. According to official data, this allows Oasis to generate one frame in just 0.04 seconds—a significant leap compared to other AI models, which can take up to 20 seconds to generate a single second of video. This results in a fluid and dynamic sandbox experience that can adapt to players’ actions. Developers believe this capability will only improve with hardware advancements, such as Etched’s upcoming Sohu AI chip.
Image by Oasis via GitHub
While the demo launch of Oasis has certainly turned heads for its innovative approach, it was met with mixed reviews. On the positive side, the game has been praised for its ambitious concept and its potential to redefine how games are developed and played. The AI’s ability to generate responsive, real-time environments has sparked conversations about the possibilities of fully AI-driven game worlds among players and industry professionals.
However, many players have pointed out technical shortcomings that detract from the experience. For instance, Oasis is capped at 720p resolution and runs at a modest 20 frames per second, both of which feel outdated compared to modern gaming standards. The game also lacks sound and initially limited players to five-minute gameplay sessions, though this has since been extended to 15 minutes. These issues have left some players feeling underwhelmed by the otherwise impressive technology.
Beyond the technical limitations, there’s also the matter of Oasis’s eerie unpredictability. Some players have described the game’s constant changes in scenery and inventory as unsettling, even calling it “a nightmarish hallucination”. These elements show how powerful generative AI can be, but they also show how it can create experiences that are too unpredictable for comfort.
Another contentious aspect of Oasis is its resemblance to Minecraft. Critics argue that Oasis is essentially a clone, with no credit given to Mojang or Microsoft, the creators of the 2011 classic. Decart and Etched did not obtain permission to use Minecraft gameplay data to train their AI model, raising questions about copyright infringement and ethical boundaries in AI-driven game development. This controversy has sparked debates about how generative AI intersects with intellectual property laws, creating a gray area that the industry has yet to address.
Despite its flaws, Oasis represents a bold leap forward for AI in gaming. Industry experts believe that generative AI can streamline game development by automating repetitive tasks, ultimately reducing production costs and timelines. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has even predicted that within five to eight years, “every pixel [will be] generated at real-time frame rates”.
But with this technological revolution come valid concerns. Will AI replace game developers entirely? According to experts, the future lies in striking a balance. John Romero, co-creator of DOOM, has said, “AI is best used as a tool to complement human creativity, not to replace it.” Similarly, Herman Hulst, co-CEO of PlayStation, emphasizes the importance of maintaining the “human touch” in game development.
As the industry navigates these challenges, Oasis stands as both a milestone and a harbinger of things to come. It blurs the line between human and AI creativity, offering a fascinating glimpse into a new era of interactive entertainment. While the road ahead may be uncertain, one thing is clear: the journey of AI in gaming is just getting started.
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