Game Oracle, a market data analysis platform, recently released a research report covering 9,879 games, providing hard data for the debate on whether "AI harms game reputation." The study counted games launched between January and October 2025, and after excluding garbage games and copycat titles, found that about 17.9% of the works actively disclosed their use of AI.

The data results were unflinching. After controlling for variables such as publisher, team experience, and game genre, the report found that games that openly used AI had approximately 53% fewer player reviews compared to those developed entirely by humans. This means that once players learn a game has a high "AI content," their interest in leaving reviews significantly decreases. The negative label of AI has a far greater impact on commercial feedback than expected.

"AI Bias" Discriminates: High-Quality Games Are Also Affected

To everyone's surprise, this negative effect was particularly evident in larger and more experienced development teams. The report pointed out that the market performance of low-quality games showed almost no difference whether they used AI or not; however, for high-quality games with potential to become hits, the AI-related bias was real and could seriously hinder projects that could have been successful.

The difference between using AI well and poorly is huge. "The Finals" made extensive use of AI but still achieved great success, while the player discussions around "Crazy Taxi" were almost entirely focused on the fact that it "used AI," with the game content itself being largely ignored. The report compared AI to a hammer: "Would you not use a hammer when building a shed? Just don't hit everything with it randomly."

Concealment and Controversy: AI Becomes an "Unspeakable Secret" in the Industry

Many developers do not agree with the view that "AI is just a common tool," and the industry's current situation has become more complicated due to concealment behaviors. Including Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, industry leaders oppose mandatory disclosure of AI usage, and major top-tier companies continue to invest heavily in AI technology research. Sony recently even strongly promoted AI tools as capable of "releasing the creative potential of studios."

Successful cases of AI-assisted development are not rare, from "Metaphor: ReFantazio" winning awards to "Red Dead Redemption 2" selling over a million copies. However, the negative conclusions of this report will not drive the industry to completely change its mindset in the short term. The role and boundaries of AI in game development will remain a long-term point of contention between developers and players.