Zenless Zone Zero producer Zhenyu Li revealed in a recent interview with Eurogamer (via a translator) that AI-generated content will be used “programmatically” in the game to “make gameplay smoother.”
Lee did not provide any specific programming examples because he is “not an engineer,” but he emphasized that AI is “only a small part of programming.” [in Zenless Zone Zero]This is mainly to help the programming team to streamline the production process and actually make their work more efficient.”
What we do know is that the game’s signature vibrant, urban art style, which sets it apart from miHoYo’s other titles Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, isn’t AI-generated. Li said that when it comes to art-related content, the team “want to create something from our own minds,” before a statement clarifying his comments later provided to Eurogamer added that this is “something the entire team believes in.”
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When it comes to voice, miHoYo has used an AI called Anti-Entropy in the past for its Lumi_N0va virtual avatar (and as a stand-in for one event in romance mystery “Tears of Themis” when the voice actor was unavailable), while Zenless Zone Zero continues the developer’s trend of hiring top voice actors in multiple languages for its blockbusters. When I asked if any AI technology was being used for in-game voice generation, Li gave a pretty definitive “no.”
Aside from anti-entropy AI, miHoYo is also known to be using Nvidia’s Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) generation technology, as announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January this year. ACE is an AI-powered technology that helps generate facial animations and text-to-speech input to aid in character creation.
Though unconfirmed, this seems very similar to the technology used by the Star Rail development team, who revealed to IGN last year that they were using AI to improve the facial appearance and behavior patterns of in-game characters, also saying that the team was “paying a lot of attention to AI, particularly its impact on the games industry.”
This ACE AI would also make sense as a “smooth game progression” for Zenless Zone Zero, but without Li providing us with a concrete example, we wouldn’t know if this particular tech was used.
While it’s reported that 62% of studios are already using AI and that AI is set to change video game development forever, Li’s comments make it seem like Zenless Zone Zero continues miHoYo’s trend of only dipping its toes lightly into the controversial technology for now.
