This market seeks to predict the ability to use AI to generate meaningful parts of an impressive game.
We are not concerned with precision down to the level of generating a good Settings menu, but trying to take a qualitative look at how relevant overall the AI is.
Individual examples that would cause this market to resolve YES:
- All (or the overwhelming majority) of assets are AI generated -> YES
- All game mechanics are AI generated -> YES
- All the story / dialogue elements are AI generated in a visual novel -> YES
At the end of 2025 if this market closes and no game has met the critera, this market will resolve NO.
FAQ:
What counts as a game?
I am fleshing out two main requirements:
1. It must be listed as a game for sale on Steam, Epic, game consoles, or equivalent online game storefronts.
2. There must be tangible game rules, with explicit victory and loss states.
(Open ended chat sandboxes are not the interesting question, as we basically already have those.)What if the assets are AI-generated but human-edited?
For the purposes of this market this will NOT count.
Related markets:
Related questions
I think the most likely way this resolves YES is with a mobile game, for example an AI gacha game. It could e.g. be filled with generated anime girls and dialogue similar to Genshin Impact.
96% of the games on Steam generate less than $1 million in sales: https://gameworldobserver.com/2022/11/29/median-indie-game-earnings-steam-barely-over-1000
So it cannot just be any random experimental indie game where the AI generation is the main draw; it has to actually be a good game that attracts a significant following. Apparently a third of the ~400 games on the Meta Quest store have earned over $1 million (https://uploadvr.com/1-in-3-meta-quest-store-apps-make-millions-in-revenue/), so perhaps the level of quality on the Quest store is a good benchmark for comparison: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/section/258035155854818/
Personally, I am doubtful that a high-quality game could be developed, released, and hit $1M revenue on such a short timespan. (Less than three years from now -- we don't currently even have AI that can generate good 3D models! And I am doubtful that an experimental visual novel or text adventure is going to break $1M.) Videogame creation workflows seem pretty complex, such that even a game with one very impressive AI-generated aspect (ie, all the artwork), other aspects of the game (mechanics, etc) would need to be created by people.
I would appreciate some examples of what would cause this market to resolve to "NO", as I could see some game incorporating AI in a fairly basic / limited but high-salience way (ie, the enemies in in a stealth game are RL-trained agents that realistically search for the player, a la "Hello Neighbor", or all the textures are AI generated but then they are applied to human-made game objects), gets a bunch of overhyped headlines as "the first AI-created game!!", but doesn't truly meet the criteria that this market seems to be laying out.
Added the related 2026 market: https://manifold.markets/SneakySly/by-the-end-of-2026-will-there-be-a
I would put high probability on a game (I would consider it a game but you might not hence the question) existing where its AI Dungeon esc with important additions. It generates images for stuff, it prohibits you from narrative breaking / forces you to follow established mechanics but everything is still in written text style, it would have conditions under which you would win or lose.
The most important mechanic is the AI forcing you to stick to rules. That, alongside resolution criteria, would in my mind be worth +$1 million and resolve yes.
AI dungeon is on steam but thats not a "game", would the above be considered a game to you? If not, what are the minimal additions needed so that it would be?
I believe an answer to this question would do a lot for providing clarity on your resolution criteria.
