Today, during Sony’s quarterly conference call for investors and analysts, which also included the corporate strategy presentation, the company’s executives offered more color on the PlayStation business, focusing on generative AI and even providing a tidbit on the next generation.
During the livestreamed presentation, PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino talked about Sony Interactive Entertainment’s views on generative AI and the initiatives in motion at the company’s studios to use the new technology.
Nishino-san started by mentioning that the goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish, and AI is seen as a “powerful tool” to help with this mission.
This includes more games, and “gaming experiences like never before,” more immersion, more adventures, and fresh ways to enjoy the players’ favorite characters.
On top of that, Nishino-san claimed that developers will enjoy more efficient production environments and better discoverability to ensure that their games reach the right audience, also enabling more creators to enter the market.
Sony sees a future with a meaningful increase in the volume and diversity of the content available to the players, so it’ll be critical that players find the right content in an increasingly crowded landscape.
The company believes that PlayStation Studios and their IPs will remain a key differentiator when players have more choice, as they will gravitate toward trusted franchises that they know well.
Developers are also working on automating workloads to improve productivity in quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation via AI tools.
For example, a tool created by Sony’s teams called “Mockingbird” quickly animates 3D facial models based on performance capture. This doesn’t replace human performers, but optimizes how the data from performance capture is processed. As a result, animation work that would have taken hours can be completed in a fraction of a second.
Sony’s teams at San Diego Studio and the developers of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered have already used these tools.
Another example is a tool used to animate hair that is usually a labor-intensive process, given the volume of strands that must be created.PlayStation’s teams have accelerated this process by taking videos of real hairstyles and using AI to output a 3D model with hundreds of strand models.
AI tools aren’t just being used to enable efficiency, but also to enable new types of experience, for instance, with the use of Gran Turismo Sophy in Gran Turismo 7.
On top of that, Sony’s creatives have “already shown the ability to create amazing prototypes where NPCs with their own personalities can create a living, dynamic world for the players to explore.”
That being said, Nishino-san pledged that as AI capability evolves, the role of PlayStation’s creators will remain unchanged.
The vision, the design, and the emotional impact of Sony’s games will always come from the human creators of its studios, and AI is “meant to augment their capabilities, not to replace them.”
AI has also become a part of the platform business. AI tools are ensuring that transactions are routed efficiently over the payment networks, and have generated over 700 million in incremental Revenue.
Sony is building on this “success” with ongoing projects that will use machine learning to “provide the best value possible for customers.”
In the store, Sony claims that it has seen AI models can outperform manual curation. This will evolve into what the company defines as a “consumer-centric experience,” which won’t just suggest the next game a player might enjoy, but also the next gameplay moment, subscription, accessory, or merchandise that “best reflects their passion beyond the store.”
Nishino-san then mentioned the recently updated PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution available on the PS5 Pro, which uses machine learning to enhance image clarity and deliver 4K visuals at high frame rates.
He concluded with the following:
“We believe AI will unleash the creativity of our Studios, power a more curated platform, and enhance the PlayStation experience for both players and creators, with our global player base, Deep library of IP, and an integrated ecosystem.
AI is a powerful tool for us to deliver a truly cutting-edge entertainment experience.”
Sony Ceo Hiroki Totoki covered more relevant topics and mentioned during the Q&A session that Sony has not yet decided when to launch the next generation of PlayStation and its price.
At the moment, the company is observing and following the situation, especially of memory prices, which are very high at the moment, on top of shortages in supply.
Some of these considerations include how it could be possible to reduce the cost of hardware in areas other than the semiconductor. Sony might also think of new ways of selling the product.
They’re going to do many simulations, including the possibility of changing the business model to come up with the best solution and strategy.
Answering another question, he mentioned that he believes that an evolution in the gaming content is needed, and there’s a high possibility that AI will bring about this evolution.
According to Totoki-san, the gaming industry is becoming very mature, with a large portion of the market share relying on large franchises by major publishers.
AI could lower the bar to create games, increasing the possibility of new games appearing on the market, leading to the industry becoming more active.
He admitted that there’s a possible flip side, acknowledging the concern that generative AI could cause a disruption, but he does believe that it’ll lead to an expansion of the market.
If you’d like to hear more about Sony’s financial performance, you can read our dedicated article from earlier today, including an update on PS5 lifetime sales.
