• AI Going Mobile

In 2011, Apple launched the iPad 2 with far more processing power. Epic Games called it “astonishing”. The iPad 3 could launch as early as March 2012, with even more processing power. It’s no secret that people consume all forms of entertainment through increasingly more mobile form factors. We believe that developers will take advantage of the processing power and the greater consumption of mobile devices, and start creating games with more robust AI.

• AI Tools for All 

As we head further down the mobile road, and see greater numbers of indie developers, we also take steps towards a number of more democratized tools -- tools that will follow in Unity 3D’s and UDK/Unreal’s footsteps and meet the needs of students, small independent development projects and AAA studios alike. We’ve already seen some middleware head in this direction (Allegorithmic for one) and believe it to be a growing trend that will impact AI tools in 2012.

• AI-Driven Dialogue

This year will bring more engaging and realistic “social” AI. We’re beginning to see voice recognition technology team up with AI on consumer products (think iPhone and Siri). That same concept is transferring over to the gaming world with AI that recognizes the way people communicate (e.g. Kinect Voice Recognition) and games that respond in real time in an appropriate manor. More of those games are certainly on the way.

In addition, this year a game called Prom Week will be demo’d at GDC’s AI Summit. The creators of Prom Week claim that their system allows for more dynamic social interaction through dialogue, allowing for a multitude of story outcomes. We look forward to seeing what kind of an effect this particular game will have on story and dialogue in upcoming games.

• Impressive AI, Not Just Graphics

In a recent article, Noah Wardrip-Fruin from UCSC stated: “I think part of the hopeful anticipation around Skyrim comes from the fact that we can all tell that RPG AI is stalled. The dialogue and story structures of Mass Effect are pretty much the same as Neverwinter Nights.” (read the full article) Bethesda’s AI-driven story system was a great step forward for AI. We expect, and hope, to see more games that attempt to impress players as much with their AI as with their graphics. 

We’ve probably missed a few more trends. If you think we have, feel free to leave your comments below.