Konami Digital Entertainment president Hideki Hayakawa believes generative AI is unlikely to fundamentally change the video game market, arguing that human creativity and collaboration remain essential to developing innovative games.
In Konami Group’s latest Integrated Report, covering the fiscal year ending March 2026, Hayakawa discussed the growing role of generative AI in game development and the opportunities it could bring to the industry. While AI could improve production efficiency and make certain aspects of development more accessible, he believes the barriers to creating games have already been lowered considerably through tools such as general-purpose game engines and user-generated content (UGC).
Hayakawa emphasized that improving development efficiency is not the same as creating more compelling games. In his view, people and creators remain the most important elements in producing entertaining and innovative experiences, particularly when developers from different backgrounds bring their ideas together.
He also highlighted the value of collaboration during development, suggesting that the exchange of ideas between team members can lead to unexpected gameplay concepts that would be difficult to replicate through technology alone.
That does not mean Konami intends to dismiss new technological developments. Hayakawa sees technological progress as an opportunity to explore new kinds of gaming experiences, explaining that the company provides creators with support to understand emerging technologies, assess their potential risks, and apply them safely to game development.
His comments offer a measured perspective on AI’s growing presence in the industry. Rather than treating the technology as a replacement for creative talent, Hayakawa sees it as another tool developers can use, with the people behind a game ultimately remaining central to what makes it worth playing.