A Bunch Of Big Video Game Company Stocks Just Tanked For A Very Dumb Reason

Yesterday, Google revealed its Project Genie AI-generation tool, allowing people to make “interactive environments” in seconds using just prompts. Today, in response to this, a bunch of investors seem to think this is the future of game development and are bailing on big game companies. This has led to stocks tanking for companies like Take-Two and Roblox.

On January 29, Google started rolling out early access to a new “experimental research prototype” AI tool named Project Genie. It is powered by Genie 3 and Gemini and allows users to create 3D worlds you can move around in simply by inputting a text prompt, like “Cartoonish 3D racing game with toy cars.” As reported by The Verge on Thursday, the tool can also be used to create “games” that look a lot like Mario and Zelda, something I imagine Nintendo won’t be happy about.

While Genie’s creations aren’t games at all, just 3D environments that you can explore for a short amount of time, it seems many investors believe that tools like Genie will soon magically be making entire games. There’s been a bunch of sudden stock sell-offs across the gaming industry on Friday as a result.

As reported by Investing.com, the stock price for numerous publishers and console manufacturers is tanking today after Genie’s reveal. As of 1:05 p.m. EST, Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive was down over nine percent. Roblox’s stock price had slid nearly 12 percent. Video game engine company Unity’s stock is down a whopping 20 percent. And even Nintendo stock is down nearly five percent. These tumbles all happened today, which seems to directly connect the slides to the reveal of Google’s new Genie tool.

At the moment, the interactive experiences Google’s tool can produce last only one minute, run at 24 frames per second, and cap out at 720p. They also lack stability, with one demo featuring a race track changing mid-gameplay. The tool can also be used to create replicas of games like Mario 64, though Google seems nervous about this ability, with the AI tool eventually stopping a Verge reporter from making more Mario “games” over concern for “the interests of third-party content providers.” Meanwhile, other people are already using the tool to make ugly, horrible versions of GTA 6 and Dark Souls. 

But for the people with all the money, none of this matters. They see a future where game devs and companies aren’t needed, and this magic AI tool can save money and quickly produce the next Call of Duty or GTA. Good luck with that.