On Wednesday, the founder of Genshin Impact-producing gaming company miHoYo Cai Haoyu shared a controversial post on LinkedIn expressing his views on AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content). “As for the game developers ranging from average to professional, we might as well consider switching careers,” Cai said.
His LinkedIn post suggested that AIGC will revolutionize game development, eventually limiting the field to either elite geniuses creating groundbreaking work or hobbyists making games for fun, with little space left for regular developers.
Why it matters: The post has given rise to debate about AIGC and miHoYo in the domestic gaming industry. Cai’s post highlights the potential impact of AIGC on the gaming industry, arguing that it aggressively challenges the role of traditional game developers.
Details: Cai’s post has stirred up debate on the Chinese internet, with users on Zhihu, a Chinese Q&A platform similar to Quora, posting hundreds of posts and thousands of comments.
- “AIGC has already revolutionized game development; it just needs time for this phenomenon to fully unfold,“ Cai claimed in his LinkedIn post. In the future, game creation will be dominated by two types of individuals: hobbyists and the top 0.0001%, who are extraordinary geniuses with profound insights and exceptional design skills, forming elite teams to create groundbreaking innovations, according to Cai.
- Cai added that 99% of hobbyists will develop games on a whim to explore and satisfy their personal ideas. For game developers who fall somewhere between amateur and professional levels, AIGC will render them redundant and it might be worth considering a career change, he concluded.
- A highly-upvoted response on Zhihu (with 822 likes) called Cai’s remarks “arrogant”. Cai’s comments might be a reaction to recent online attacks against miHoYo or a display of pride following a breakthrough in the company’s gaming technology, Zhihu user wucheng suggested.
- Many users on Zhihu acknowledged Cai’s perspective, recognizing that while his comments sounded harsh, they reflected the truth. “Most gaming enthusiasts can use AIGC to bring their ideas to life, even if their works aren’t perfect or profitable. For them, game creation is about self-fulfillment. Those who lack passion or extraordinary talent might not find success in the gaming industry,” wrote Zhihu user shemingwan.
- Another side of the debate is from a social science perspective, such as industry facts or social development. Some netizens believe that Cai ‘s statement is too elitist. “Without ordinary developers to maintain the entire industry, the so-called geniuses and elites cannot exist,” according to one LinkedIn comment.
Context: Cai Haoyu, Liu Wei, and Luo Yuhong co-founded miHoYo in 2011. The company gained global fame with the launch of the game Genshin Impact in 2020. Cai Haoyu primarily handles research and development, while Luo Yuhong and Liu Wei are responsible for project development, operations, and management-oriented tasks.
- In July, miHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail earned $31.1 million, while another of its titles, Zenless Zone Zero, generated $60.7 million, according to mobile data platform Appmagic. However, Genshin Impact did not make it into the top 20 global mobile game revenue rankings for the month, the report said.