This new AI application could change game development forever

Singapore-based game developer Winking Studios announced its new GenMotion.AI application in Berlin during Acer’s IFA 2024 press conference on Wednesday. The generative AI will enable game designers and animators to create high-quality animations with natural language text prompts.

“GenMotion.AI streamlines the creation process of detailed 3D art with its advanced customization features tailored to meet specific animation requirements,” the company wrote in Wednesday’s press release. It added that future updates will make it “accessible to both seasoned professionals and amateur creators.”

Winking Studios is an appropriate developer for creating such a tool, as it is already a game art outsourcing company, having worked with companies like Activision, Ubisoft, and Square Enix. These partner developers would likely have to approve the use of such a technology in game, but in theory, it seems like it could be implemented in a subtler — and more useful — way.

Details are still largely scarce regarding how GenMotion actually works, however, the company notes that it is “powered by high-quality training data” and “crafted with a deep insight into animator workflows and requirements” to ensure that the AI can integrate seamlessly into existing processes. That’s important, as this kind of stuff won’t be remotely useful if it doesn’t consider how developers currently create games.

The company is also quick to point out that the training data is copyright-protected, and that its entire capture process is recorded on video and “meticulously documented on the blockchain.” Winking Studios goes so far as to claim that an unnamed, but “renowned” law firm has audited the workflow to “ensure security and compliance” with international law.

The tool is currently in beta release, and you can try it out for yourself on the GenMotion.AI website.

Generative AI animation tools have rapidly grown in popularity over the past few years, led by applications such as Adobe Character Animator, Blender, and DeepMotion, though the industry’s biggest studios have been reticent to incorporate the technology into major product releases.

Nvidia, for example, has been testing its ACE technology to generate fully interactive non-playable characters, including their dialogue and facial expression,s but has had to implement a NeMo Guardrails tool for developers to prevent the NPCs’ responses from going too far off the rails.

Ubisoft showed off a similar NPC creator at GDC 2024 that players can interact with using their headset’s microphone, however, there are no firm plans as of yet to roll the feature out to a AAA title. We’ll have to see if GenMotion.AI has a bit more success in attracting support from developers.