Dead Space creator says Elon Musk is 'full of crap' when it comes to AI-generated games

Earlier this month, Elon Musk took to his very own social media platform X to state that by the end of next year, his xAI game development studio will release the first "great AI-generated game." It's somewhat of a vague statement, but it refers to a new type of playable game that exists without a traditional game engine or human-created art, design, and other data.

Basically, AI will generate everything you see on-the-fly, from visuals to music, sound, and gameplay, based on player movement and the type of experience it will offer. We've already seen some early versions of this; however, they're prototypes and, like all AI-generated art, are trained and based on existing human-created works. Like this example of AI-generated Doom, and this example of AI-generated Minecraft.

Elon Musk is no stranger to making bold statements or predictions, and even though what constitutes "great" is subjective, Dead Space creator Glen Schofield (via PC Gamer) responded to Musk's statement that the first great AI-generated game will be here by the end of 2026 by saying, "He's full of crap. That's what I believe. I want to actually say that to him."

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Now, as an industry veteran, you might think that Glen Schofield isn't a fan of AI, but that's not the case. He's actually an advocate for using AI as a game development tool, citing Midjourney as a great way to brainstorm visual ideas and even bounce ideas off an AI chatbot like GPT. During a recent presentation at the Gamescom Asia x Thailand Games Show, he had nothing but good things to say about AI and its impact on the future of game development.

"History has shown us that every major technological leap creates whole new industries, opportunities, and specialists," he said. "AI is a technological leap - it's like the PC, internet, or cellphone, and just like those, it's going to create another wave. It'll change the way we work and the way we do things. Yes, some jobs are going to shift, they may go away, but new ones - millions of them - will be created over the years."

Schofield firmly believes that someone will create a fully playable AI-generated game. However, he thinks the existing AI tools for game development are problematic because they're not being developed with input from developers who are experts in creating engaging 3D worlds to explore. So yeah, his issue isn't so much with Elon Musk saying that xAI's game development studio will create the first great AI game. Instead, it's about the timeline, as the end of 2026 is, in a way, wishful thinking.