The annual game developer conference Devcom kicked off this year’s Gamescom with a two-day event featuring conferences, an expo site, and social gatherings for the gaming industry. The hybrid format encompassed live-streamed lectures and provided virtual meeting slots on the event platform
The focal point of this year’s edition was the integration and management of AI tools within the daily development pipeline. Alongside comprehensive overviews of the technology and legal framework discussions concerning unresolved creative concerns, the event featured an intriguing lineup of practical implementations. Many cases revolved around NPC elaborations through generative AI. Some concepts and tools even demonstrated complete RTS games, centered around chat interaction with an AI game master for gameplay innovation.
Practical AI implementation in game testing, an obvious application field due to the already advanced state of testing automation, was explored as well. Ethical concerns related to AI employment and the evolving landscape of workplace and team communication were also addressed on stage. Beyond the practical showcases closely tied to game production features, many of these discussions on AI closely paralleled prevailing sentiments in traditional industries and public society.
The program also featured a workshop on VR sculpting, alongside lectures and production insights concerning VR, primarily in the realms of design and art direction. Notably, some of last year’s VR showcases from the Devcom expo are now available for early access on the Gamescom page on Steam.
