Tournament Hacked

Happy Monday! YouTuber MrBeast has agreed to a deal with Amazon to host and executive produce a reality competition show called Beast Games. The series will feature 1000 contestants competing for a winner-take-all 5 million dollar prize. Sign us up!

— Tim Rhyne, Derek Neville

MAIN QUEST: Devs embrace AI

According to a recent Unity report; 62 percent of studios utilize AI at some stage during the development process. Unity's report highlights that AI integration has led to efficiency gains with 71 percent of studios crediting AI for improving delivery and operations. AI finds application in various aspects of game development, notably in character animations, code writing, art and level generation, narrative design, and automated playtesting, with 68 percent of developers leveraging AI to expedite prototyping, and 56 percent utilizing it for world-building, including NPC development.

Additionally, Inworld underscores developers' enthusiasm for AI-driven NPCs, with 3-in-4 expressing excitement about their potential. However, challenges remain with 43 percent of hesitant developers citing time constraints and 24 percent lacking technical expertise. Despite AI's growing influence, the industry recognizes the irreplaceable role of human creativity and expertise, as demonstrated by Keywords' experiment attempting to develop a game solely with AI tools.

Step Back: While AI's reception is gradually warming within the industry, concerns persist. Especially, on the impact of voice acting, with unions like SAG-AFTRA expressing apprehension and even considering strikes against game companies over AI usage in voice acting.

HUD

• OpenAI is working with a UAE investment firm on a deal to fund its own design and manufacturing of processors, as Nvidia’s industry-leading H100 chips are in short supply. Even if a deal is made, it would likely take years for OpenAI to produce quality chips at scale.

• Turtle Beach has acquired licensed third-party controller manufacturer PDP. The deal is valued at $118 million, with $79.9 million in cash, and the rest in shares. PDP’s prior owner Diversis Capital becomes Turtle Beach’s largest shareholder.

• The regional finals for Apex Legends were disrupted as multiple pros were hacked mid-game and given cheats. One player, Genburten, backed out after he realized he had wall hacks. The North American finals have been postponed following the incident.

MAJOR W

• 👔 LinkedIn to add games to its platform. Now everyone can be a “professional” gamer. Get it?

• ☁️ GOG to partner with Amazon Luna to bring cloud gaming to more devices. No additional downloads and full Luna-compatible peripheral support will be included.

F IN THE CHAT

• ✋ Sony has reportedly halted production of the PS VR2 headset while it works on selling its current stockpile of inventory. The PS VR2 has also been in the news recently as Sony looks to make it compatible with PC games.

• 🥷 A modder has claimed that Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection included their mod without giving them credit. Modder iamashaymin’s DLC mod was mistakingly included in the original trailer by developer Aspyr, but the modder claims it also made it into the released PS5 version of the game.

CAREER CORNER

• Associate Software Engineer, Online - Diablo IV — Blizzard (Austin, TX)

• Paralegal — Epic Games (Cary, NC)

• Producer — Square Enix (London, UK)

HIVE MIND

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