Keywords Studios, the international games services provider behind titles including Batman: Arkham Shadow, Still Wakes the Deep, and Goat Simulator 3, has revealed that only a small fraction of AI tools currently on the market are suitable for real-world game development.
Following extensive internal testing of approximately 500 AI tools, the company found that only around six demonstrated the consistency and reliability required for use in live production environments.
Jon Gibson, Head of Transformation at Keywords Studios, shared the findings as part of a broader assessment of AI’s current role in the games industry, highlighting a gap between innovation and practical application.
“Everyone’s focusing on building better AI, and no one’s really focusing on how to use it in a live production environment,” Gibson told The Game Business. “AI feels like it’s in the chaos phase right now. And we need to move to the usable phase. How do we use AI in live production environments?”
The findings point to a wider issue in how AI tools are being developed and deployed. Many solutions are created without clearly defined use cases, resulting in products that perform well in demonstrations but struggle to integrate into complex development pipelines.
“A company will use a tool or build a tool without a specific use case and try and cram it into their production pipelines, rather than flipping that problem around and saying: ‘What are our pain points? What are we trying to solve?’ And then building a tool against that.”
This disconnect is also contributing to growing concern among developers. According to Gibson, unease around AI adoption has increased steadily as the technology becomes more widespread.
“That statistic of 52% of developers being concerned about the usage of AI, that’s gone up every year for the last three years. As AI tools, AI models, and AI technology in general has become more prevalent, the lack of understanding and the concern has increased.”
Keywords Studios emphasises that its position is not anti-AI, but focused on ensuring that the technology is integrated in a way that delivers real value while supporting existing talent.
“Until we’re able to work out how to meaningfully build this technology into production pipelines in a way that is safe, in a way that adds value, in a way that complements the talent that already exists in this industry, and doesn’t threaten that talent, I think there’s always going to be that level of concern,” Gibson said.
As part of its ongoing transformation strategy, Keywords Studios continues to evaluate AI solutions with a focus on tools that demonstrate measurable, repeatable value in live environments.
The company’s findings highlight a key point for the industry: moving beyond experimentation and toward practical, responsible adoption.