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The gaming industry is full of lofty claims about AI. It’s said that NPCs powered by LLM chatbots will completely transform games. But the story of one small studio shows that this technology also has a harsh reality: its cost.
Image credit: Easy Fox
What is the game?
Teach My Little Sister How To DriveA comic simulator in developmentEasy FoxIn this game, you sit in the passenger seat and teach your virtual little sister how to drive. The fun twist is that your sister is being followed by an LLM chatbot. It’s currently running on OpenAI’s model, but the developers plan to use Gemini in the final release.
You can talk to it and give it verbal commands, like “Turn left here.” The bot responds accordingly. At least, that’s how it should be in theory.
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The demo was a hit, and that’s where the trouble began
Easy Fox released a demo of the game in February. Over the past month, the number of people playing the demo has suddenly skyrocketed. The developer stated on Steam that the number of demo playersmore than twenty timesIncreased.
It sounds like any indie studio’s dream. But here, every player interaction costs “tokens” to the AI ​​service. According to the developer, they’re now using the AI ​​services for the demo.Over $1,000 a dayThey say this isn’t because each player is expensive, but because there are so many players.
Risk of bank loan and demo closure
Things got so bad that the studio had to keep the demo going.loan from bankHowever, the developer has stated that due to financial pressures, the demo may need to be discontinued before the full release. However, they also stated that no such decision has been made yet.
According to reports, a twenty-fold increase would mean approximately 450 players playing simultaneously. The total number of players would be higher, but this figure is nothing compared to a major game. Imagine, if so many players are spending so much, what will the total be after the game is sold?
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Full game price and future plans
Easy Fox says they will include the estimated cost of AI usage in the game’s price, and players won’t be charged for tokens separately upon purchase. However, critics are right to question whether this token bill will continue to grow over time. Furthermore, estimating the cost of AI tokens is difficult, as even large companies like Microsoft and Uber don’t accurately estimate their internal token costs.
As an alternative, the developers are considering introducing local AI models for players with powerful GPUs. But this will obviously only be useful for a small portion of players.
The game has its weaknesses too
The developer himself has admitted that there are still some issues. Sometimes the dialogue feels too artificial, breaking the immersion. Sometimes the bot misunderstands commands, for example, telling it to turn left and turning right. This might be a bit amusing in a driving lesson game, but it’s a serious problem.
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Our opinion
A writer for PC Gamer believes that the game’s use of AI is more intelligent than some other games, as the entire game relies on character interaction. He also feels that better voice actors and a stronger dialogue system could have achieved the same result at a lower cost.
We find this story important because it reveals the true nature of AI’s dazzling promises. Popularity can also be a burden for small developers. The game’s full release is expected next year.January. Then we will know whether this experiment is economically sustainable or not.
