You’ve seen mini game ads everywhere – those hypnotic mini-game ads flooding your social feeds on youtube, ins, facebook…
There are not much new design or game mechanism behind them, what developers do is just remixes of existing genres, like FPS + Infinite runner; RPG + Card; SLG + RPG – and differentiate through themes, art styles, and character designs…
This trend signals a fundamental shift. The gaming industry has evolved into a standardized manufacturing sector, splitting into a stark 1/99 divide: 1% hand-crafted innovative titles, and 99% “fast-moving consumer goods”.
This mirrors what happened in the video content market. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube now dominate users’ attention with vast quantities of template-based, standardized content. This standardization and demand for rapid production creates the perfect opportunity for AI to revolutionize game development.
The standardized and fast production demand, giving AI the perfect application to solve it. Every types of games can be disassembled into components, and reconstructed. Majority of the game dev process can be automated by AI systems, e.g. numerical system, level design, art design, 3D modelling, animations, or story writing, which can give the game infinite story development.
However, this AI gaming revolution likely won’t begin on traditional platforms like Steam or PlayStation. Instead, expect it to emerge from hyper-casual mobile games, social media mini-games, and Web3 gaming platforms. Here’s why:
- Current AI Capabilities Match Casual Gaming Needs
While AI-generated content hasn’t reached AAA game standards, it’s perfectly suited for casual games where component reuse is common and quality expectations are different. AI excels at creating variations on existing patterns—exactly what the casual market demands. - AI Excels at Iteration, Not Innovation
Similar to how LLMs train on existing human knowledge, AI game development tools will excel at remixing and recombining existing game design elements rather than creating entirely new paradigms. This aligns perfectly with the casual gaming market’s need for familiar mechanics with fresh twists. - Speed and Standardization Drive Casual Gaming
Casual games have short lifecycles, requiring constant updates and fresh content to maintain user engagement. AI-powered development pipelines can deliver rapid iterations and new features to drive user retention and monetization. - Gaming as a Feature
Consider trending crypto games like Catizen and Hamster on Telegram. These products prioritize tokenomics and social features over complex gameplay. AI-generated game elements can provide adequate entertainment while developers focus on core economic and community features.
While some might worry this trend will flood the market with low-quality games, I see it differently. AI is democratizing game creation, similar to how smartphones and editing tools democratized video content. This democratization led to platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which spawned billions of creators and more diverse, high-quality content than the traditional TV/film industry could produce alone.
The future of gaming will likely mirror this pattern, splitting into two distinct categories:
- The top 1%: Elite teams of visionaries creating unprecedented, groundbreaking game experiences
- The other 99%: Enthusiasts and general creators using AI tools to bring their unique ideas to gamified content
This democratization won’t diminish gaming—it will expand it. Just as social media birthed new forms of entertainment beyond traditional media’s imagination, AI-powered game creation tools will enable new kinds of interactive experiences we can’t yet envision.
The real revolution isn’t in AI making games—it’s in AI enabling everyone to become a game creator.