RuneScape maker Jagex has insisted it will never use generative AI to make content players actually see in-game, in one of the hardest stances on AI yet seen from a video game developer.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Jagex SVP of product, James Dobrowski, said that the UK company is “open” to using genAI for development processes, such as “tooling efficiency.” But he promised Jagex will never use genAI to “drive creativity.”
“We’ve got a pretty hard line stance with the team, which is a commitment that no generative AI will ever be present in any asset that a player can touch, hear or feel,” Dobrowski said. “There will be no generative AI in the game that they experience.”
That rules out the likes of AI-generated art, which we have seen in games such as Call of Duty, AI-generated voices, which we have seen in Arc Raiders, and AI-generated text / dialogue, which, again, we have seen pop up in a number of games.
“Where we are open to the use of AI is in things like tooling efficiency,” Dobrowski continued, “how do we make the way we work more efficient in order to make our staff’s lives easier and allow us to produce better content. But we do not want to be using AI to drive creativity.” Jagex is even speaking with its external partners to make sure no genAI is being used in “inappropriate ways in any of their work that might filter through to the end game.”
The use of generative AI in game development is one of the hottest topics in the industry, and it has sparked a number of controversies. Following the reveal of Divinity at the 2025 The Game Awards, Swen Vincke, boss of developer Larian, met with a backlash after he said the studio was using genAI in various capacities. Larian ended up having to address AI concerns in a reddit AMA in which the studio confirmed a U-turn on some aspects of its use.
Jagex’s “hard line stance” is in contrast to the approach of some video game companies that have gone all-in on the tech. The CEO of Genvid — the company behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive series Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed “consumers generally do not care” about generative AI, and stated that: “Gen Z loves AI slop.” EA CEO Andrew Wilson, meanwhile, has said AI is “the very core of our business,” and Square Enix recently implemented mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to be “aggressive in applying AI.” Dead Space creator Glen Schofield also recently detailed his plans to “fix” the industry in part via the use of generative AI in game development, and former God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio said: “… if we don’t embrace [AI], I think we’re selling ourselves short.”
Outside of video games, some entertainment companies are banning the use of genAI altogether. For example, Games Workshop recently banned the use of generative AI for the production of its designs and content, a decision many Warhammer fans welcomed.
As for RuneScape, it was in the news recently after a UK court ruled stealing RuneScape Gold was criminal theft in a case that could have wider repercussions for the video game industry.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
2026-01-28 15:06:00
