Former Square Enix Executive Says Most Consumers Do Not Care About AI in Games, Despite Industry Debate
While the ethics of AI in video games and creative industries has become one of the most heated topics among enthusiasts and professionals, a former Square Enix executive argues that the average player does not care at all. According to Genvid CEO Jacob Navok, formerly Director of Business at Square Enix Holdings, consumer indifference is shaping the future of how AI is adopted in game development.
Navok shared his perspective on social media, citing real market behavior as evidence to support his claim.
One of the examples he highlights is the massive success of the Roblox title Steal a Brainrot, a game that prominently uses AI generated 3D models based on so called AI slop characters. Despite ongoing ethical debates, the game reached an astonishing peak of around thirty million concurrent players, driven overwhelmingly by Gen Z audiences. This, Navok suggests, demonstrates that younger players do not care about AI provenance, and that future generations will care even less. Quoting The Dark Knight Rises, he commented: “You merely adopted the slop, I was born in it.”
For all the anti-AI sentiment we're seeing in various articles, it appears consumers generally do not care.
— Jacob Navok (@JNavok) November 16, 2025
The biggest game of the year, Steal a Brainrot, had 30m concurrents or approximately 80x the ARC Raiders concurrents, and is named after/based on AI slop characters. (All… https://t.co/B3mexTjBcK
Given this level of mass consumer indifference, Navok believes AI use in video games will continue to accelerate. He notes that many studios already incorporate generative AI into early concept workflows, while others rely on tools such as Claude for coding assistance. Within a few years, he predicts it will be difficult to find an indie studio that is not using generative tooling in some form.
However, while the average consumer may not care, how AI is implemented still strongly affects quality. High quality use cases can meaningfully improve player experience. For example, Embark Studios uses AI to generate additional voice lines in ARC Raiders, while ethically compensating voice actors whose performances serve as the basis for synthetic expansion. This is an example of responsible, value enhancing AI integration.
Yet Navok notes that ethical high quality usage does not always correlate with scale or revenue. Steal a Brainrot is projected to earn between eighty and ninety million dollars since launch, significantly outperforming ARC Raiders in commercial terms. With recurring player counts of twenty million concurrent users for two consecutive weeks this month, the Roblox hit illustrates the commercial power of AI driven content even when artistic integrity is questioned.
There are also more experimental uses of AI, such as Everstone Studio’s Where Winds Meet, where AI chatbot powered NPCs lead to unpredictable and often amusing player interactions. On the other end of the spectrum are implementations that have drawn criticism, such as Call of Duty Black Ops 7 replacing traditional calling card artwork with AI generated images that many players described as low quality.
This widening spectrum of AI use cases underscores the core divide: the gaming industry is rapidly adapting to generative technology, while enthusiast discourse remains conflicted. Mass consumer behavior, however, appears to be moving in the opposite direction from online debates.
Where do you stand in this ongoing debate? Does AI usage in games concern you, or does fun outweigh the method of production? Share your opinion with us.
