More than half of Japanese game companies are reportedly using AI in development, according to the country’s CESA survey preview.
Artificial intelligence (AI) use continues to be a hot-button topic, but more companies are seeing its benefits. More than half of Japanese game companies are reportedly using AI in development, according to the country’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA). The claim was based on survey responses submitted to the 2025 CESA Video Game Industry Report. The survey included companies like Capcom, Konami, FromSoftware, Square Enix, and Sega, among other smaller indie studios—taken from 54 Japanese game companies in total. The survey preview was released on September 25th.
According to The Nikkei, the CESA report was conducted to release statistics ahead of Tokyo Game Show—to provide an overview of Japan’s gaming industry. While they found that 51% of companies are using AI or generative AI in game development, there were some other insightful data collected. The number of people employed in the domestic game-related industry was estimated to be around 200,000, and the average age of people working at game-related companies was 37—with the average length of service being seven years. The starting salary was 259,000 yen (approximately 1,743 USD), 23,000 yen higher than the previous year.
The AI floodgates opened with more people and companies using ChatGPT, and becoming more accepted. The CESA report found that the companies using AI mostly used the technology for producing videos and images. This ranged from characters, generating stories and text, and supporting programming. The survey also found that 32% of companies are using AI to develop their own game engines (core software).
The full CESA report will be released in full in early December, so specifically cited uses of AI remain under wraps. Eurogamer cited previous stories back in 2024 from Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu. The CEO stated the company would be “aggressive in applying AI”, when developers admitted they “dabbled” with AI for the failed shooter Foamstars. Even though companies like Capcom and Sega already utilize generative AI and have created in-house AI teams, Nintendo has taken a hard stance against AI use. Last year, Shigeru Miyamoto stated the company would “rather go in a different direction” to maintain its branding of originality.
With more companies using AI, the future of the games industry appears to be exploring more of its benefits. AI is a fast, easy, and cheap tool to help optimize the production pipeline. Whether people are against or for AI use, more companies are delving into learning its usefulness than not.
