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| As AI accelerates game production, storefronts are filling faster than players can keep up, turning discovery into the real challenge. |
By Jon Scarr
The gaming industry is about to produce more games than ever before, and that might be its biggest challenge. According to a new Boston Consulting Group report, roughly 20 percent of games released in 2025 disclosed some form of AI usage. BCG estimates that around half of studios are already using AI tools in development. That scale matters, because it points to a future where making games becomes easier, faster, and far more common.
The result is not just more creativity. It is more volume. More launches. More storefront listings. More games competing for the same limited attention. BCG calls out discovery as a growing pressure point, and it is hard to argue. When the supply of games explodes, finding the ones worth your time becomes harder than ever.
This is where AI stops being just a development story and becomes a player facing one. The problem is no longer whether games can be made. It is whether they can be found.
AI Makes Games Easier to Create Than Ever
BCG’s data suggests AI is already embedded across the industry. Studios use it for code generation, quality assurance, localization, and content iteration. Some developers use AI to prototype ideas faster. Others use it to reduce costs or speed up production cycles. The effect is cumulative. Games that once took years to build can now reach playable form in months.
That shift lowers the barrier to entry. Smaller teams can ship projects that once required large budgets. Experimental ideas are easier to test. Niche concepts can find life without massive funding. On paper, that sounds like a creative win.
But there is a flip side. When it becomes easier to make games, more games get made. Storefronts fill up quickly. New releases stack on top of each other. Even dedicated gamers struggle to keep up. AI does not just increase output. It compresses timelines and crowds attention.
BCG notes that developers themselves are aware of the risk. Around half of studios express concern about player pushback related to AI use. Some of that is ethical. Some of it is creative. But a lot of it comes down to saturation. Too much content makes everything harder to see.
Discovery Is the New Bottleneck
For gamers, discovery already feels messy. Digital storefronts refresh constantly. Algorithms recommend based on limited signals. Social feeds move fast. When AI accelerates production, those systems feel even more strained.
BCG highlights that discovery and curation will become increasingly important as content volume rises. That tracks with everyday experience. Most gamers do not browse endless lists hoping to strike gold. They rely on shortcuts. Recommendations. Familiar franchises. Trusted voices.
This is where discovery stops being a backend problem and becomes a core part of the gaming experience. If people cannot easily find games worth their time, abundance becomes friction. AI may help studios create more, but it does not solve the problem of choice overload.
That pressure connects directly to Gamers Are Buying Less And It Is Not Just About Price. When discovery becomes overwhelming, waiting feels safer. Skipping feels easier. Gamers retreat to backlogs, subscriptions, or familiar titles instead of gambling on something new.
Creators Are Already Acting as Filters
This is not happening in isolation. As discovery gets harder, creators become more important, not less. BCG reports that more than half of gamers would try a new game if their favourite creator switched to it. That statistic matters even more in an AI driven content flood.
Creators filter chaos. They play the games you do not have time for. They show what sticks and what falls apart after the first hour. They turn discovery into something human again.
That dynamic ties directly into Creators Decide What Gamers Play More Than Ads or Publishers. As AI expands the catalogue, trust becomes the scarce resource. Gamers are not looking for more options. They are looking for guidance.
UGC, streams, clips, and long play sessions do what storefront algorithms struggle to do. They show context. They show pacing. They show whether a game respects time. In a world full of AI assisted releases, that role only grows.
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| Creators often act as the first filter, showing which games are worth attention before most people ever hit a storefront. |
Platforms May Become Discovery Engines First
BCG hints at another shift that feels increasingly likely. Platforms themselves may place far more emphasis on curation. Cloud services, subscription libraries, and storefront ecosystems all have incentives to help gamers navigate overload.
Rotating catalogues, spotlight features, trials, and recommendation layers become more than marketing tools. They become survival mechanisms. If platforms do not help people find value, people bounce off.
This connects the dots between AI production, creator influence, and changing buying habits. Discovery sits at the centre. AI pushes supply up. Time remains fixed. Something has to bridge that gap.
The Real Question Is Not Creation, It Is Attention
AI will not slow down. If anything, its role in development will expand. BCG’s report makes that clear. The challenge ahead is not whether the industry can produce enough content. It is whether gamers can spend real time with it.
Discovery decides what survives. Not every game needs to be a hit, but every game needs to be seen. As AI floods storefronts, the tools that help people decide where to spend their time become just as important as the games themselves.
So the future of gaming may hinge less on who makes the most content and more on who helps gamers navigate it best. In an industry built on creativity, attention might be the most valuable currency left.
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