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Konami Digital Entertainment president Hideki Hayakawa says generative AI may make some development work more efficient, but he does not expect it by itself to significantly change the video-game market. In Konami Group’s Integrated Report 2026, published October 15, 2026, he argues that game engines and user-generated content (UGC) have already lowered barriers to entry, while the harder task—making a game entertaining, original and innovative—still depends on people, creators and the exchange of ideas inside teams.
What did Hideki Hayakawa say about AI and games?
Hayakawa’s comments appear in the Digital Entertainment section of Konami’s report for the fiscal year ended March 2026. Automaton’s English account translates the relevant passage from that report. His point is not that AI has no practical value; it is that production efficiency and creative differentiation are separate problems.
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“Even if AI use does lead to improvements in production efficiency, I believe that the most important factors in producing entertaining and innovative video games are people and creators.”
He adds that developers from different backgrounds exchange and combine ideas during production. Hayakawa describes the resulting interaction as a “chemical reaction” that is difficult to replace with a tool.
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“That kind of chemical reaction is not something that can be easily replaced.”
Read together, the remarks draw a line between automating tasks and deciding what a game should be, how it should feel and why players would choose it over alternatives.
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Why does Konami think AI will not significantly change the game market?
Hayakawa’s market argument is about entry barriers, not Konami’s share price or a prediction that AI will have no operational impact. General-purpose engines and UGC platforms have already made it easier for smaller teams and individuals to create and distribute games. In his reasoning, another technology that reduces production friction does not automatically create a new market environment.
Lower production costs do not guarantee a hit
AI can assist with activities such as drafting, iteration, asset support or other workflow tasks, but cheaper or faster production can also increase the volume of competing releases. That leaves discovery, player retention, originality, design judgment and execution as unresolved challenges. Hayakawa’s distinction is therefore between making more material and making something audiences find worth playing.
Engines and UGC already changed access
Game engines provide reusable systems for rendering, physics, input and other development needs. UGC tools let players or aspiring creators build and share content within established platforms. Because those technologies already broadened access to game creation, Hayakawa sees generative AI as an additional efficiency tool rather than a wholly new source of market access.
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Can AI replace game creators, according to Hayakawa?
Hayakawa’s answer is no: creators remain central because entertaining and innovative games depend on choices that emerge from collaboration. A model can generate material or accelerate a step in a pipeline, but his statement assigns the decisive role to human teams that set goals, evaluate alternatives and combine perspectives.
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The “chemical reaction” metaphor refers to ideas produced when people with different backgrounds challenge and adapt one another’s proposals. That process can affect mechanics, pacing, tone, accessibility and the relationship between a game’s systems and its audience. It is also where teams decide which generated suggestions are useful, inappropriate or simply uninteresting.
Efficiency is not creative ownership
Even a highly capable assistant would not remove the need for direction, editing, quality control or accountability. Studios still have to determine whether material fits a game’s artistic identity, complies with rights and privacy requirements, and works for the intended players. Hayakawa’s comments treat those judgments as part of the creator’s job rather than an automatic consequence of adopting AI.
Is Konami against generative AI?
No. Hayakawa presents technological advances as opportunities that Konami can study and apply with safeguards, not as replacements for its development staff.
“Even when it comes to epoch-making technological innovations, Konami provides systematic support so that creators can get a grasp of new technologies, properly assess the risks they may bring, and safely apply them to game development.”
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
- Rising's stealth elements will emphasize Raiden's considerable speed and agility through what Matsuyama describes as "hunting stealth."
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This describes an internal approach built around training, risk assessment and controlled application. It does not amount to a blanket ban, nor does the cited passage establish that AI is absent from Konami products.
Does Konami disclose AI use in a specific game?
The cited remarks do not identify a particular Konami game or service that uses generative AI, and they do not describe a shipped feature, model or production pipeline. It would therefore be inaccurate to claim that AI caused a result in a named title or that every Konami product uses—or avoids—the technology.
They do provide a policy-level signal: creators are expected to learn about new tools, weigh their risks and apply them safely where appropriate. Evidence of deployment in an individual game would require a separate, product-specific disclosure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does Konami’s eFootball business show about the context?
Konami’s report describes eFootball as a free-to-play game available on consoles, PC and mobile. It reports more than 1 billion cumulative downloads as of April 2026 and 45.21 million participants in qualifying for eFootball Championship 2026, the largest qualifying participation figure reported to that point.
Those numbers illustrate the scale of Konami’s live digital business and the reach of a cross-platform service. They are not evidence that generative AI caused the downloads or tournament participation, and Hayakawa’s comments do not make that causal claim.
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What should developers take from Hayakawa’s position?
For studios considering generative AI, the statement suggests evaluating tools against the creative problem they are meant to solve rather than assuming efficiency will produce innovation automatically.
- Define the bottleneck: identify whether the issue is repetitive production work, iteration speed, testing coverage or something else.
- Keep human review: creators should approve outputs for quality, coherence, originality and suitability for the game.
- Assess risks before deployment: check rights, confidentiality, security, bias and the treatment of player or employee data.
- Protect collaboration: do not remove the cross-disciplinary discussion that generates mechanics and experiences players have not seen before.
- Measure player value: faster output is useful only if it improves the finished game without undermining trust or identity.
Hayakawa’s broader message is restrained rather than anti-technology: AI may change how some work is done, while the reasons a game matters to players remain rooted in human creative judgment and collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Hayakawa’s statement apply to every kind of AI used in games?
No. The passage discusses generative AI and technological innovation at a general level. It does not analyze separate uses such as matchmaking, fraud detection, accessibility features or analytics.
What would count as evidence that AI changed the game market?
A market-level claim would need evidence such as changed numbers of new entrants, development economics, release patterns or player behavior over time. A studio making one workflow faster would demonstrate an operational effect, not necessarily a market transformation.
Why might more efficient tools make creative leadership more important?
If teams can produce prototypes and assets faster, they may face more alternatives and more competition for players’ attention. Clear direction and disciplined selection become more important when the volume of possible material increases.
Could Konami’s position change as tools improve?
Yes. Hayakawa describes an approach of learning new technologies, assessing their risks and applying them safely. That framework leaves room for practice to evolve as capabilities, rules and evidence change.
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