Larian exec says 'we don't need another cash grab' about Musk's AI-generated game for 2026

The head of publishing at Larian, Michael Douse, has fired flak at Elon Musk's suggestion earlier this week that his xAI game studio will release a 'great' AI-generated game.

On X, Musk told us that: "The XAI game studio will release a great AI-generated game before the end of next year." As PC Gamer noticed, though, Douse remains distinctly unconvinced as you can see from the post about Musk's assertion on X (see above).

Douse observes:

"Genuinely what this industry needs is not more mathematically produced, psychologically trained gameplay loops, rather more expressions of worlds that folks are engaged with, or want to engage with. AI has its place as a tool, but we have all the tools in the world and they aren't compensating for the incredible lack of cogent direction. AI isn't going to solve the big problem of the industry, which is leadership & vision."

The Larian publishing director goes on to observe that what we need is more human-human expression, not less of this, and to avoid further 'cash grabs' - in an industry which has become a "game of headless chickens racing to the P&L sheet".

He concludes:

"To turn games into digital, emotionless content is to abandon all resonance... which is why people play!"

It's difficult to argue with that - mind you, it's also difficult to believe that xAI is going to release a top-notch AI-generated game at some point next year. It seems doubtful that this could happen so soon, at any rate, without any human programmers being involved. (Unless the definition of 'AI-generated' is loose and not referring to something an artificial intelligence is creating entirely on its own).

We shall see next year, but I'm not holding my breath.