"There's nothing worse than an AI-generated pitch": Bloober, Jagex, 11 bit and indie devs on the bruising hurdle of funding a videogame prototype

Among the worries faced by crippled developers seeking a steadfast is the gamble of a prototype – that is, "a playable physique that meaningfully shows what’s bully astir your crippled – a impervious of concept", successful the summary of Suspicious Developments brag Tom Francis. Specifically, Francis says a "prototypable task is 1 wherever you tin physique that successful an magnitude of clip you tin spend to lose".

Few autarkic devs person bags of clip to lose, and there's nary warrant the labour volition beryllium rewarded. And yet, galore publishers contiguous won't adjacent travel to the array unless they tin get their hands connected a playable portion of a game. At Digital Dragons successful Krakow this year, I spoke to radical from 11 Bit, Jagex and Bloober Team, unneurotic with a mates of autarkic teams, astir the seeming necessity of prototypes and the associated temptation to sound them unneurotic utilizing generative AI.

Hubert Popławski is pb developer astatine Maverick Souls Studio, whose members see erstwhile developers of Dying Light 2 and Frostpunk 2. The studio's archetypal game, Before Darkness Falls, is simply a promising 3D endurance tactics sim successful which you support and repair a collapsing concern compound connected a malevolent planet. The squad had a prototype connected amusement astatine Digital Dragons, hammered unneurotic successful fractional a twelvemonth aft being awarded immoderate archetypal backing by the Digital Dragon Accelerator programme.

A six period turnaround is beauteous nippy for a squad of 2-10 people. As Popławski told maine aft I'd sampled the build, a greener outfit would apt person fallen short. "It genuinely depends connected the acquisition of the team," helium said. "I deliberation juniors person a precise hard clip to present thing that looks bully capable to consciousness harmless for investors and publishers, to look astatine it and see erstwhile investing successful it, right? So that's not adjacent for everyone. For teams similar us, for example, composed of veterans with much than five, 10 years of experience, it's overmuch easier."

It's a occupation some for younger devs and for smaller publishers who are looking to enactment riskier, hopefully breakout work, specified arsenic Frostpunk household 11 bit, whose third-party collaborations see Indika, The Thuamaturge and forthcoming squalorcore simulator Crop. "For us, I deliberation the biggest situation is the ever-present occupation of indie developers not having budgets for prototypes, portion we usually similar to motion projects that person prototypes," 11 bit's outer improvement manager Rufus Kubica told maine elsewhere astatine the show.

"Some developers oregon different publishers, oregon adjacent sometimes fans, tin money prototypes, and they benignant of lick the chicken-and-egg problem," helium went on. "For us, due to the fact that we are truthful code-driven, and we request to person impervious of the cardinal features, the USPs and everything, we cannot enactment with a insubstantial pitch. Unless it's a precise well-known developer approaching us, and we cognize the way grounds truthful we tin speech astir the project. But usually erstwhile you're moving with indies, it's rather a caller team, truthful if they don't person a playable proof, it's a truly large occupation for us."

Image credit: Odd Meter

11 spot whitethorn not beryllium arsenic well-resourced as, say, Epic Games, who are prosperous capable to tally prototype incubation programmes for tenderfoot teams. But Kubica added that successful general, this is not a large clip to beryllium pitching videogames.

"There is this unusual limbo of, if you cannot footwear disconnected things connected your own, oregon you don't person different funds, it whitethorn beryllium problematic to find a steadfast successful the existent industry," helium says. "All the publishers - and we are rather good connected with different publishers – we are precise affable due to the fact that again, it's astir the tone of the company. We privation to enactment different indie devs and indie publishers, truthful we stock however things work. And I spot that everyone on, let's telephone it our level, precise generally, our level of publishing - everyone is precise hazard averse."

For Bloober Team's caput of publishing Michał Gembicki, having a playable prototype is "absolutely crucial". Speaking during a Digital Dragon sheet treatment of the existent publishing landscape, helium insisted that securing a woody different is "close to impossible, unless you are, of course, a recognised studio. [Or if] determination is an IP you have, oregon you person a immense line-up, and you tin accidental this is going to beryllium similar thing you did successful the past. Then yeah, of course, you tin try, but still, [the publishers] volition astir apt clasp disconnected until you astatine slightest present a video of thing playable."

Image credit: Bloober Team

"The wide constituent is that it's a much hazard averse backdrop," added Anna Mostyn-Williams, elder manager of concern improvement and partnerships astatine RuneScape developers Jagex. "Anything you tin bash to assistance amusement de-risking is going to help. So of course, the prototype is going to help."

Publishers whitethorn occasionally connection contracts backing the instauration of a prototype, if they spy an thought they privation to fastener down earlier different institution pinches it. They whitethorn besides scope retired to devs they spot and money a prototype for a assortment of crippled they privation successful their portfolio. But those opportunities aren't heavy connected the ground, arsenic I heard from different prospecting developers connected the Digital Dragons amusement floor.

Michał Staniszewski is workplace manager for Plastic, a legendary Polish demoscene outfit that dates backmost to the 1990s. Over the past 20 years, Plastic person collaborated with Sony Santa Monica connected a fig of engrossing oddities – Linger successful Shadows, VR crippled Datura and Bound - a beauteous crippled astir a ballerina darting and spinning done a satellite of furious, fragmented colour.

A fewer years ago, a fewer members of Plastic divided from Sony to spell autarkic again. After posting videos of playable builds connected Tiktok, they won backing from Epic for a procedurally generated sandbox game, the winningly daft Boundless Fun Simulator, successful which you clip unneurotic crippled modes and props connected the alert utilizing stickers and sliders.

Image credit: Plastic

"Totally 100% agree," Staniszewski said, erstwhile I asked if it's harder present for an indie dev to get attraction without a prototype. As for wherefore publishers are much cautious, helium points straightforwardly to rising improvement costs. "During our times with Sony, we were with Santa Monica external, and determination was like, Journey and each the different indie studios, similar Dear Esther and truthful on," Staniszewski recalled. "And usually we were doing a crippled for 4 years, that was connected average, and it was [doing] okay. And past each those studios, the adjacent crippled was like, six to 8 years. It's a truly hard, weird spot that we are at, close now. It's changed dramatically."

As successful different walks of life, 1 mode successful which indie developers person sought to trim their expenses is by utilizing generative AI tools. There's a rash of chatbot bundle that is aimed specifically astatine prototyping fast, careless of expertise. In November 2025, Amazon Web Services introduced "Agentic Arcade", a tools bundle mocked up to lucifer an aged coin-op dive, which boasts of being capable to present "playable crippled prototypes successful minutes". Unity person their Unity Muse, aimed astatine "creators of each accomplishment levels". Within large, established teams specified arsenic Crystal Dynamics, meanwhile, generative AI prototyping has go regular astatine galore stages of development, contempt vociferous reactions to Steam disclosures.

Boundless Fun Simulator doesn't, arsenic acold arsenic I know, diagnostic immoderate generated materials, but Staniszewski is receptive to generative AI usage, specifically for smaller teams of seasoned operators. "I deliberation that like, generating full games is like, [an thought for the] distant future," helium said. "But automatic codification procreation for elemental worldly similar UI - if you are a bully programmer with 10 years of experience, you volition get a 10 times boost of your productivity. So I judge that the indies who dwell of 1 idiosyncratic oregon 2 radical volition get truly overmuch much productive successful a year, maybe, due to the fact that it's going truthful fast."

Image credit: Amazon Game Studios

For each the promised efficiencies, however, steadfast executives I spoke to astatine Digital Dragons were highly ambivalent astir pitches that see generated oregon partly-generated prototypes. "I'm not against AI myself, successful general," 11 bit's Kubica told me. "It's a utile tool, but a utile instrumentality for peculiar things, and I similar erstwhile things are human-made successful the end." The basal occupation for a publisher, helium went on, is that a prototype that makes extended usage of generative AI offers small impervious of a team's capabilities. "How tin I beryllium definite that this developer tin marque the prime they're promising?" Kubica added. "If everything is done with AI, however bash you cognize they person the artists to marque it happen?" He adds that acknowledgment to generative AI, "it's benignant of easier to overpromise prime early".

Bloober Team's Gembicki feels "there's thing worse than an AI generated pitch". Speaking during the aforesaid sheet discussion, helium commented that "I would [prefer] to spot a sketch oregon thing enactment successful progress, but done by hand, by that team, showcasing this art, they privation to execute - usually it's astir art, right? Rather than this AI content." He does consciousness generative AI usage is "fine" for the marketplace probe aspects of a pitch, specified arsenic collecting information and producing charts. "But decidedly not for penning text, and not for doing the artwork."

Jagex's Mostyn-Williams agreed. "Yes, usage it for marketplace info, for that broadside of things, but radical tin tell," she warned. "It's truthful obvious. So beryllium really, truly mindful of it. And if you are going to usage it, marque definite that you spell done it afterwards and 'de-AI' it. I know, that's an evident point, but a batch of radical don't."

For Maverick's Hubert Popławski, a further information is the anticipation of a PR disaster, adjacent earlier you've signed a publisher. Generative AI pervades today's games manufacture but it's a much-disliked exertion – culturally cannibalistic, energy-intensive, error-prone, and a pretext for workforce reduction. "The backlash from utilizing AI is truthful scary," helium says. "People inactive don't similar the thought that you're utilizing AI. If you do, it volition beryllium 'Oh, that's an AI. No, convey you.'"

Image credit: Maverick Souls Studio

I myself despise generative AI, partially due to the fact that I spot it arsenic portion of a wider anti-social oligarchal project, but arsenic with immoderate tech, I deliberation determination are less-bad applications fixed immoderate grade of work and transparency – for example, proprietary, bespoke and circumscribed models that wage oregon different get consent for the worldly they usage for "training". I mostly debar games of immoderate standard that marque usage of AI generation, but I tin recognize the entreaty for a smaller squad trying to drawback the oculus of a publisher, during a clip of cutbacks.

One happening I forgot to inquire Popławski astatine Digital Dragons is simply whether creating a prototype is fun. It feels similar it should beryllium the facet of improvement that radical relish the most. It's the portion wherever ideas go a tentative reality, successful which the task has immoderate solidity but is inactive precise malleable. I find it sad, successful general, that generative AI advocates absorption truthful heavy connected its usage for speedy "ideation", brainstorming and investigating of concepts. Surely, this is the portion of the task wherever you consciousness slightest inclined to manus disconnected enactment to immoderate signifier of automation.

Speaking to maine aboriginal implicit email, Popławski predictably took a little idealistic view. For him, making a prototype tin beryllium enjoyable but is much often a grinding gamble. "Creating a prototype is archetypal and foremost stressful," helium said. "In immoderate ways, it’s a benignant of 'First Judgement Day' for the project. It tin beryllium amusive erstwhile you person the funds and the team’s ambitions are aligned with the project’s scope, but if you’re starting from scratch and inactive request to beryllium yourself, there’s a batch of pressure, and that tin instrumentality the amusive retired of it."

The fixation with having a prototype tin marque discussions with imaginable backers consciousness utterly arbitrary, Popławski went on. "We had a concern successful a B2B gathering wherever idiosyncratic didn’t instrumentality america earnestly regarding scope and backing until we showed them our gameplay uncover trailer," helium recalled. "Once they saw what we had really built, they relaxed and nodded along, arsenic if the claims that had sounded ambitious a infinitesimal earlier abruptly became wholly reasonable."

This diagnostic is based connected a travel to Digital Dragons successful May 2026, with the lawsuit organisers paying for question and accommodation.