Can everything be flirted with? AI's revolution in gaming goes far beyond cost reduction | Insightful research

AI is becoming more and more popular. As one of the downstream applications, games have become the focus of market attention due to their fast implementation.

Not only first-tier companies such as Tencent, NetEase, and MiHoYo are developing AI technology on their own, but non-leading companies are also actively joining the ranks of AI through cooperation and access to large models.

NetEase’s mobile game "Ni Shuihan", the first domestic game to be implemented with GPT, will be launched next month. The new big IP Legend of Sword and Fairy, which is connected to Microsoft's GPT, will also be tested next month. The "Westworld"-style game scene seems to be really not far away from us.

How much disruptive change can AIGC bring to the gaming industry? How is the implementation of the scenes dreamed by players coming to fruition? Most importantly, how much monetization can be achieved?

Cost reduction may be limited, but the increase brought by innovative gameplay is more important

We all know that AIGC has brought the two biggest changes to the game industry. One is to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and the other is to attract more players through more innovative gameplay, increase their willingness to pay, and increase turnover. , increase revenue.

The market’s current awareness is mainly about cost reduction, because the frequent appearance of large models has begun to reduce the cost of art modeling.

Whether it is Midjourney, NeRF, Shap-E or domestic Tencent’s 3D virtual scene generation tools, they can effectively shorten model production time and save manpower. China Mobile Games is directly connected to Microsoft's GPT, with the goal of reducing outsourcing costs by 50%-60% and personnel costs by 10%-20% by the end of the year.

Jianzhi Research believes that the use of AI tools can indeed greatly improve the efficiency of game development, but it may be more limited than expected. Because R&D costs actually do not account for a high proportion of the entire turnover, about 12%, of which art costs account for 50%. Even if calculated based on a 50% reduction in art income, 50%*50%*12%= 3%, the actual space that can be compressed may be only 3%, so the change in overall profitability may not be as big as imagined.

Jianzhi Research believes that more important than cost reduction is how much innovation and subversion AI can bring to the existing game experience. This also determines whether AI can really Attract more incremental players, effectively increase ARPU (revenue per user), and truly achieve a big step forward in revenue, rather than just talk on paper.

Multi-modal NPC generation, "all living things can interact" becomes a reality

Some games have begun to use multi-modality to innovate gameplay.

"Ni Shuihan" uses NetEase Fuxi AI to generate NPCs in multi-modal modes, which is known as "all living things can interact". Enter text to automatically generate NPCs that match the description. Players can also use words and actions to interactively change NPC's behavioral decisions and influence the direction of events. Conversations, tasks, and copies can be generated infinitely.

The picture below shows the dress-up station of the mobile game "Ni Shui Han". Players can not only shape their faces according to their preferences, but also design their own fashion, even down to nail art design. The character models are exquisite and diverse in style, which

increases the fun of the game and alsolowers the threshold for creation. Everyone can use AI to become a "designer".

Jianzhi Research believes that the use of AI is a huge innovation for open world games and text-based, female-oriented games. Because the plots and experiences of traditional games were usually fixed in the past, requiring the design of a large number of options and corresponding results, and generating plots, options and results through AI may be able to achieve true "thousands of people, thousands of faces". Especially the core gameplay of female-oriented games is high-frequency dialogue and plot promotion. AI-empowered NPCs are equivalent to exclusive "lovers" generated based on each person's personality and preferences.

This can not only greatly improve the playability of the game, improve player interactivity and participation, but also provide more monetization methods.

For example, players can purchase items to enhance their characters or appearance in the game as paid value-added services. Pay to unlock more interesting interactions with NPCs. Producers can cooperate with brands to display specific brand products or brand promotions in the game, and use this method for advertising.

The picture above shows the popular mobile game for women"Love and Producer"

68 yuan paid 3D voice package. It is conceivable that in the future, with the empowerment of AI, it may be possible to play with it anytime and anywhere. Chat with your virtual boyfriend. In

miHoYo's female-oriented mobile game "Undecided Event Book", anti-entropy AI can already help dub characters, and can complete changes in voice and tone based on the text context. .

In addition to text, pictures and voices, multi-modal generated NPCs can also produce more extensive content such as 3D model videos. And based on stronger multi-modality, NPC’s ability to perceive and understand human emotions and language is stronger, making interactions more real.

(Video comes from Station B)

This video shows a scene of a character doing a farewell dance in the mobile game "Backwater Cold". It was made by motion capture of Tang Shiyi, chief of the National Dance Team. It can be seen that the body movements and clothing details are very realistic, and the expressions and expressions are also very realistic. Smart and rhythmic.

National participation in the creation mode, the game will also be "Douyinized"

The injection of AI also brings more opportunities to platform games.

The so-called platform game means that while players are playing the game, they can also conduct secondary development and creation in the game.

Last yearNetEase launched the UGC editor mobile game"Egg Boy Party", which added UGC (user-generated content) to the official map, triggering the generation of a large number of second-generation content. Within a few months, the game’s DAU (daily active users) exceeded 30 million, and its MAU (monthly active users) approached 80 million.

(Picture from: Orient Securities)

NetEase has recently launched a large number of AIGC-related positions. One of the responsibilities of the AIGC level generation researcher is to promote the level generation of "Egg Boy Party". The salary level is 60-85k, which exceeds most positions. Game companies are very interested in AI. The demand for talents is also growing day by day.

In addition, Kunlun Wanwei's editor game "Codename D" is under development; the user UGC editor will also be added to the Chinese mobile game "World of Sword", and users may enjoy revenue sharing from co-creation.

Why are players’ secondary creations in the game so important?

The most important reason is thatSecond creation can bring about an increase in the volume of game content, and at the same time, the explosion of content can attract increasing levels of users.

Similar to Douyin’s user fission effect, each new player can bring more value to the platform. He may be a player or a creator. The UGC platform can increase the value of new nodes exponentially, and the improvement of game quality, game duration and creation speed will further promote this growth.

As for the monetization method, it may be similar to Douyin. Game creators can create games on the platform, and the platform can monetize through advertising, commissions, tool fees, etc.

In March of this year, Roblox released two AIGC tools available to all developers, including material generation and code assistance tools. Stefano Corazza, the head of Roblox Studio, demonstrated how to convert natural language into code.

Future platform games will provide wider creative space and more revenue opportunities, bringing more creativity and fun to players and developers.

Smarter robot playmates, improve user retention

Robot is another mode that AI can directly empower. Generally, BOT AI is more effective in competitive games, because when the player's plate is not big enough and he cannot match his opponent after waiting for a long time, he will easily lose.

And BOT AI can step in to fill the vacancy. For example, if you can't get a hundred people to run around in a game of chicken, the robot can recharge the number; in Honor of Kings, if you can't match people or require AI hosting, the robot can provide performance that adapts to the player's rank level.

At present, Tencent and NetEase BOT AI have been applied in many e-sports tracks such as MOBA, FPS, fighting, and autonomous driving. According to 2022TGDC information, AI has been integrated into Tencent’s 14 products in 5 categories. In user activity And bring about 3~5% improvement.

The picture above shows the shadow challenge in "QQ Speed". Through the movements of the shadow, you can learn about your own shortcomings and mistakes, which can effectively improve your driving skills. In addition, if you beat the BOT AI, you may get additional rewards of gold coins and unlocked maps.

It is conceivable that BOT AI will provide more help to players in the game in the future. For example, when players don’t know how to pass a level, BOT AI will give you a detailed guide; when players are hesitant about equipment and characters. decision, BOT AI will provide suggestions based on player preferences. BOT AI is not only the player's virtual teammate, but also the most considerate guide.

Summarize

I believe that every player has dreamed of a game world where everything is interconnected when they were children, where we can freely travel to every corner, listen to the unique stories of each NPC, and start adventures with countless people. With the breakthrough of AI technology, this imagination is gradually becoming a reality.

Nowadays, the cost reduction and efficiency increase brought by AI have begun to be realized, and what is more important is that AI brings innovative gameplay to the game, including smarter and more "humane" NPCs after being connected to multi-modal modes, and encouraging A UGC platform where players participate in creation and a smarter and more considerate robot guide.

The next thing we should pay attention to is how much revenue growth and contribution revenue per user (ARPU) can be brought to the company as AI functions become more abundant. Let us look forward to the emergence of a truly "hot product" .

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