Hideo Kojima Reveals Vision for Games Built for AI to Play and Learn

Hideo Kojima Envisions Future Games Designed Specifically for AI

Hideo Kojima, the visionary mind behind Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid, has once again pushed the boundaries of traditional game design. In a recent interview with Nikkei Xtrend, Kojima shared his bold prediction that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become an inseparable part of the industry within the next 5 to 10 years. Most strikingly, he expressed a desire to develop games where AI is not just a tool, but the primary audience.

Games for “AI Players”

While most developers focus on how AI can assist human players or streamline asset creation, Kojima is looking at the reverse. He revealed two specific concepts he wishes to explore:

• Games in Zero-Gravity: A physical challenge for human players in space-like conditions.
• Games for AI to “Enjoy”: Kojima wants to create software that AI can play, learn from, and find “satisfaction” in.

Kojima explained that current AI still has limited understanding of complex human nuances. He views these future games as “educational textbooks” or digital sandboxes where AI can interact with game systems to evolve its understanding of the world. By creating a system where AI can play and grow, the technology could eventually reach a level of sophistication that benefits humanity in ways we cannot yet imagine.

The “Smartphone” Comparison

Addressing the current skepticism surrounding AI, Kojima compared the backlash to the initial reception of smartphones. He noted that while smartphones were once heavily criticized, they eventually became essential tools for global communication. He believes AI will follow a similar trajectory, transitioning from a controversial novelty to a fundamental utility that brings joy and efficiency to the gaming world.

For Kojima, AI is an inevitable force. Rather than resisting it, he advocates for steering the technology toward constructive and creative ends, potentially redefining the very definition of a “player” in the SEA region and the global market over the next decade.

Kojima is the only person in the industry who could suggest “making a game for an AI to have fun” and actually get people to take him seriously. In the SEA region, where AI integration in mobile apps and gaming is accelerating faster than almost anywhere else, this vision isn’t as “sci-fi” as it sounds. If AI can learn complex social and tactical behaviors through a Kojima-designed simulation, the NPCs in our future games might become indistinguishable from real people. It is a meta-commentary on the nature of play: if a machine can find “fun” in a system designed by a human, has that machine achieved a form of digital consciousness? Only Kojima would try to answer that question with a $100 million budget.

 Origin: gamesradar