If you read our blog regularly, you’ll know that while AI is still at an early stage, the tech is sophisticated. Over the next year or so, the tech will only get better. As a result, you’ll start to see more and more companies incorporate AI tech into their products. One area where we’re likely to see huge changes is in the realm of online gaming.

In this post, we want to look at the various ways AI is being used in AI gaming right now (or could potentially be used in the future). We won’t look at specific models here, but more at how AI is set to shake up the landscape of online video game development, just like things such as edge computing are shaking up data processing.

Better NPCs

Now, when most people think of ‘online gaming’, they think of actually playing with other players. That is the core of online gaming, after all. However, anybody who has ever gamed online before will know that most online games end up dying. If a game starts to lose its player base, everybody will leave rather quickly as they’ve got nobody to play with. AI can potentially shake things up here.

There are some companies interested in developing AI for online NPCs/bots. The hope is that they can create AI that acts just like a real player would, ensuring that their games can retain their player base (and hopefully, make some money) for as long as possible.

We see this tech as virtually limitless if online game companies can nail it. Imagine an MMORPG that never dies, for instance, or a shooter in which you’ll be playing against perfectly matched, unpredictable bots.

Procedural content generation (and destruction)

When we play online games, we’ll often play the same maps repeatedly. Fun, but sometimes you just want a new challenge, and the developers aren’t pumping out new content anywhere near fast enough. Enter procedural content generation.

Some online game companies have started to experiment with procedural content generation. Using this tech, they can quickly create new maps, skins, characters etc. This can help to free up more time to deal with other aspects of the game and ensure that players have their needs satiated.

In the future, we might even see small online game maps generated ‘on the fly’, so each time the game loads, you get a whole new experience. Think of something like the randomly generated maps in games such as Diablo and Warframe, albeit on a much larger scale.

This tech can even be used to make environments much more destructible and realistic – something people will love with their online shooters.

Real-time data analytics

As much as some gamers don’t like to believe it, online game companies do want to ensure that their games are as fun as possible for their players. After all, they don’t want to lose their player base; the people that make them money.

Some companies have suggested that they’ll start to use AI and machine learning for real-time data analytics. They can keep better tabs on what people enjoy doing in the game, how they act in the game, whether there are any issues with the game, and what meta seems to be performing well. This can certainly influence future development of the game.

Cheat detection

This is an area that will get big in the future, although it isn’t quite there yet. Some companies have suggested that they will consider using AI to detect cheaters in games. This will allow cheaters to be banned far quicker, ensuring a much more pleasurable gaming environment for people. As we said, the tech isn’t quite perfect yet. Companies want to ensure that their AI models are developed in such a way that cheaters are banned, not actual players.

Testing and debugging

You can also expect companies to use AI models more to help test and debug games. This may allow online games to launch with fewer bugs (not all bugs can be detected with human testers), and it may even allow patches to be pushed quicker, ensuring that the online game environment is much more fun.

More dynamic gameplay

Once again, a lot of online gaming could be shaken up with AI models, ensuring games last longer, or the game could adapt to the way the players are currently playing. This means players get something that suits their playing style a little better.

We like to think of this as something akin to in-play betting that you’ll find at top sports betting sites. This feature has been around for a long time and adjusts betting odds based on player betting habits as well as the action happening in the game. Expect something similar to this in online gaming – adjustable features/rewards to encourage people to play for longer, or get more enjoyment out of their game.

Of course, real AI models have only been around for a couple of years now (in the form we know them), so many AI models are at a basic stage, with developers still tinkering with what they can accomplish. However, expect there to be huge shifts in online gaming going forward – and you know what? We’ll be glad to be along for the ride!