Legacy of Atlantis dev Crystal Dynamics explains how AI was used in development

After stirring controversy last week, Crystal Dynamics has offered clarity on how exactly generative AI was used in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis’ development. In an interview with Polygon, Crystal Dynamics experience director Jeff Adams explained that the tech was specifically used to create test assets.

Crystal Dynamics dredged up some ongoing anxiety around generative AI’s role in game development last Thursday, following Legacy of Atlantis’ release date reveal at Summer Game Fest. Observers noticed that the game’s Steam page featured an AI disclosure. The note said that generative AI was used for “ideation,” which left a lot of room for interpretation. Adams gave Polygon more details on what exactly that means.

“At Crystal Dynamics, we see AI as a tool that can help our team get the right answers faster,” Adams told Polygon. “In early level development, we might have the idea for an in-game object. But we might not be sure if we want to take the time to have devs build it. What we can do is use a generative AI tool to visualize it in the world. If it works, we can move it into our traditional pipeline. From there, the team can concept it and build it. At the end, all the finished product in the final game will be human-crafted. We want to make it as easy as possible for our team to be able to make high-quality experiences. That’s what the fans deserve.”

Judging by previous examples of studios disclosing their AI usage, Crystal Dynamics’ explanation isn’t likely to placate detractors of the tech. High-profile developers like Larian Studios and Sandfall Interactive have played with fire recently by admitting that generative AI was used to make their projects, drawing heat on social media.

That isn’t stopping developers from being vocal about using the tech, though. Generative AI was a recurring theme in and around this year’s Summer Game Fest. Aside from Crystal Dynamics, Sega caught flack for confirming that AI was used to create Crazy Taxi: World Tour. Square Enix raised suspicions after sharing cover art for Kingdom Hearts Collection I-III that fans theorized was AI-generated. The tech had a presence at Summer Game Fest’s in-person press and creator event too. Seed, an upcoming MMO touting its use of generative AI, was playable at the show. Many studios seem to be standing by the tech for now, regardless of the optics.