David Gardner, a former Electronic Arts executive and Atari CEO, is now a co-founder of London Venture Partners. He was one of the first EA employees, 11th overall, back in 1982, and he worked for that company until 2007. While he was there, he helped found EA Europe and played a huge role in the EA Sports franchise in the region.
He is now using his experience in the gaming industry to support new projects in this field. In a recent interview, he discussed how AI in gaming could attract investors back to the video game market. He also acknowledges that venture capitalists’ overall entry into the gaming sector has not been very successful.
Former EA Exec Says ‘AI and Small Teams’ Is Business Model For New IP
Speaking with The Game Business, the gaming exec turned venture capitalist explains that using AI and working with a small team are the new, feasible business models for new IP in gaming. As has been the recent talking point, AI theoretically enables greater efficiency and productivity in development.
“AI and small teams… that is the new business model, at least for a new IP. You get in, you start the flywheel moving, your community, you get your cash flow coming in because people are spending. And then you go big. You don’t have to have a mega team. You have more and more AI agents running to help your development be productive.”
Of course, he says the technology only works if the development team is actually good. Gardner stressed that they will have to weed through the bad AI projects just as they did with Web3 and VR. In the end, he believes AI will only help human developers get to where they’re going faster, even if that means a faster road to a bad project.
“Can they get the quality? Are the individuals any good? Because the AI will just get them quicker to some place, whether it’s a good place or a bad place. My work as an investor is to figure out: is that team going to be able to nail it? Are they going to be able to understand what the customers will love? And can they even get along during the journey?”
For more discussions on AI and gaming, check out how Capcom says they’re using Generative AI to scale back time spent on mundane tasks that detract from the creative side of game development. Also, check out Sony’s recent comments on AI and the future of PlayStation gaming.
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