Company Of Heroes Dev Wants To Release Games Faster But Isn’t Going All In On AI

by

Relic Entertainment, the studio behind Company of Heroes, wants to speed up its game development and release schedule, according to CEO Justin Dowdeswell. However, they don’t plan to rely on artificial intelligence to achieve this.

In a recent interview, Dowdeswell admitted that a major weakness for the company is the lengthy time it takes to launch new games. He explained that these long gaps between releases cause players to lose interest and awareness of what the company is doing, and also significantly increase development costs.

So, Relic’s planning on releasing stuff more often in the future, but they’re super clear that doesn’t mean they’ll rush things and put out low-quality work. They still want to make sure everything is good before it gets released, they just want to be quicker about it.

Relic can make progress by continuing to speed up its development process. They’ve already cut the time to create a working prototype to just four weeks, according to Dowdeswell. Better project management, especially keeping projects focused and manageable, will also be key.

Some game developers are exploring whether AI can speed up game development, and Relic is also looking into it. According to Dowdeswell, companies everywhere are currently trying to find ways to use AI, and Relic is already finding AI tools helpful for various tasks around the office.

He explained that simply reviewing or summarizing things helps him accomplish more, and that feeling of productivity is where a lot of the benefit comes from.

Dowdeswell believes humans will remain crucial to game development. While AI can help, people are still needed for creative tasks like brainstorming ideas, designing game structures, and making important decisions. He doesn’t see AI as a replacement for developers, but rather as a tool to automate tedious work, speed up development, and free up people to focus on more engaging aspects of the process.

Dowdeswell suggested that AI could assist game developers by enhancing their existing abilities, rather than replacing them.

According to Dowdeswell, Relic needs to address AI, but they’re taking a cautious approach. He believes the first step is figuring out how AI can be helpful, and then, as they learn more, determining its limitations. It’s important to understand where they want to draw the line with its use.

Relic is also thinking about how the public will react to their use of AI. According to Dowdeswell, they don’t have a clear plan for addressing public perception yet, but the team is actively working on it together.

There are many worries about AI, such as potential job losses and problems with copyright and plagiarism. Interestingly, AI’s growth has helped Nvidia become the world’s most valuable company, recently exceeding a $4 trillion market value. However, some people are concerned that this rapid growth could be a bubble that eventually bursts, leading to problems.

For years, Sony has been quietly using artificial intelligence to make games faster, and they say it was key to finishing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. EA Sports believes their new college football game, CFB 25, wouldn’t be as polished without AI assistance. However, the use of AI isn’t without consequences – developers of Candy Crush recently lost their jobs, reportedly being replaced by the AI tools they themselves built. According to a Financial Times report, EA is now considering expanding its use of AI to speed up game development, especially as the company navigates a recent private sale.

Read More

2025-10-08 23:40