“Make games great again”
Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla, has plunged into game development, using a slogan parodying President Donald Trump’s 'Make America Great Again (MAGA).' As global big tech corporations expand into the gaming industry utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, CEO Musk has also announced the establishment of an AI-based game studio through xAI. With AI becoming a core technology in game development, attention is focused on whether Musk's actions could change the dynamics of the gaming market.
On the 17th (local time), CEO Musk responded “yes” to a post from a user on X, which stated that “xAI will establish its own studio to develop games,” reconfirming plans for AI-assisted game development.
Last November, he also stated that “xAI will start an AI game studio, and we will make games great again,” suggesting that the project is moving into actual implementation rather than just being a concept.
xAI is the AI research corporation founded by CEO Musk in March 2023, known for developing the generative AI model 'Grok.' Currently, it is seeking to expand AI-based services, including chatbots. On the 17th, xAI unveiled the next-generation chatbot 'Grok3,' enhancing its competitiveness in the AI market. Grok3 ranked first among competing models such as GPT-4o, Geminis-2 Pro, and DeepSeek R2 on an AI performance evaluation platform. It particularly demonstrated superior performance in math, science, and coding tests, proving its strong reasoning capabilities.
CEO Musk believes that AI technology will bring innovation to game development. He has shown interest in the gaming industry since the past, having released a game he developed in 1984 called 'Blastar.' He has also mentioned the possibility of developing games using Tesla's AI technology, most recently gaining attention by certifying as a user of the globally popular game 'Path of Exile 2.'
A gaming industry representative noted, “The advancement of AI is changing existing game development methods, and using generative AI allows non-player characters (NPCs) to learn and respond to player actions in real time instead of following set patterns, offering a more immersive experience.” They added, “In the development process, it contributes to reducing costs and time through automated code generation and quality assurance testing optimization.”
As AI technology becomes a core driving force in the gaming industry, competition among big tech corporations is expected to intensify. The gaming market is a massive sector with over 3 billion users globally, representing an opportunity for global IT companies to generate significant revenue.
In particular, the combination of AI, cloud, and subscription models has been highlighted as making games one of the core growth drivers for big tech, surpassing the simple entertainment industry.
Representatively, Microsoft (MS) is actively incorporating AI technology into game development. It completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for about 109 trillion won in 2024, securing the 'Call of Duty' franchise, and is researching AI-based NPC and automatic game content generation technology.
OpenAI is also researching AI NPC and automatic game content generation technology. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, visited South Korea earlier this month and met with Kim Chang-han, representative of KRAFTON, to discuss various collaboration plans, including the development of co-playable characters (CPC) based on OpenAI's high-quality large language model (LLM) and optimization of game-specific AI models.
Netflix is accelerating game development utilizing its own intellectual property (IP). It is pursuing a strategy to expand original content, such as 'Squid Game,' into games and has recently launched dozens of additional games to expand its portfolio. It is also investing in strengthening a personalized game recommendation system using AI technology.
Professor Kim Jung-tae of Tongyang University noted, “It seems that CEO Musk, who has a strong interest in games, has been inspired by the success of Netflix original games such as 'Squid Game,' and with his vast capital power, if he genuinely enters the gaming sector with a long-term perspective, meaningful results could emerge within a few years.”