YouTuber Asmongold is currently under fire from the internet surrounding his latest "takes" on AI in the gaming industry.
While the debacle was mainly contained within X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, the whole controversy has shown us a probable future of the gaming world when AI truly becomes an integral part of it.
Asmongold Under Fire Over Opinions on Palworld AI Allegations
The whole issue started when Asmongold, during one of his reaction videos, decided to give his opinions regarding accusations against Palworld on using AI to plagiarize licensed Pokémon characters.
While many people have already expressed their opinions, whether on the side of Pokémon's company Nintendo or Palworld developer Pocketpair, the YouTuber provided a different insight on the matter.
According to him, discourse on whether the developers used AI does not matter as long as the consumers enjoy the game.
It is worth noting that no definitive evidence has surfaced yet proving that Palworld indeed used AI to steal Pokémon's designs.
Asmongold's Opinion: Why it Matters
The person's sole opinion does not necessarily matter in the discussion, however, the controversy has also shown a great majority of players' opinions
Many posts pertaining to the issue are filled with people blasting artists over their concerns. Most of the opinions boil down to seeing games as a consumable product that can be capitalized by any means necessary.
Most worrying is that Asmongold himself has over 2.37 million subscribers on YouTube, many of which agree with his opinions.
Gaming Industry Under Mass Layoffs
Asmongold's statement came in time as many game studios and developers are laying off staff in cost-cutting efforts.
The issue of AI replacing human workers remains a consistent concern among many in the industry, especially artists.
It did not help that several studios have already declared to start using AI for game development and marketing, further limiting access to the already competitive industry.
The crux of this controversy is that gaming companies could be encouraged to actually use AI over actual artists and developers as the people will not care either way.
With Steam now allowing AI-integrated games on its platform, that future is not far from impossible.