- New platform Gaxos Labs includes support for a range of AI models
- Gaxos Labs is designed to enable the quick creation of assets and integrates with Unity, Unreal and more
- Player-facing generation tools enable UGC within guardrails
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Mobile developer Gaxos has revealed a new suite of AI games development tools called Gaxos Labs.
PocketGamer.biz spoke with Gaxos at Devcom in August where the company showed off the platform. It includes integrations with several AI models, as well as plug-ins for Unity and Unreal. Today, that platform is formally unveiled and you can see the trailer below.
This suite of tools aims to accelerate game development, enhance creativity, and increase revenue. It also provides guardrails for adding AI-powered UGC options to games.
The platform is designed to speed up prototyping and streamline asset creation. Shipping with Gaxos.ai’s proprietary tech as well as popular tools like DALL-E and Stability.ai, it provides an environment tailored for games development that has an asset editor, a Unity plug-in for workflow integration, and player-facing generative AI features.
Speeding up development
Manny Benor, director of operations at New Jersey-based Gaxos, demonstrated at Devcom how the Gaxos Labs suite combines multiple AI model APIs into a single, user-friendly interface with GUIs for Unity, Unreal, and other popular engines.
“We created these tools for ourselves, internally,” he explains, showing us some of the use cases.
“Game design prototyping, for instance, is probably the most time-intense thing. You’ve got to go to the artist [with your idea]. And then you reiterate and reiterate. And then, finally, the art director picks one. And then the work begins! AI can speed that up, exponentially.”
“I don’t think there’ll be a situation where you’ll never need a visual editor or artist.”
Manny Benor
The platform enables the speedy creation of both 2D and 3D assets. This is about working more efficiently, not removing humans from the equation.
“With prototyping, you don’t need it to be exactly perfect, and it’s not about replacing anybody,” says Benor.
“People are worried about their jobs, but it’s like what happened when computers came out. You can do a lot more within Excel than you could before, and that’s how AI is going to be.
“I don’t think there’ll be a situation where you’ll never need a visual editor or artist. But in games, everything’s always an iteration with a bit of a twist, and we can help companies speed that up.”
He continues: “Game studios already have a hard time, expanding and watching budgets. Let’s say you’ve created a [hit game], and it sells millions of copies. Now you’ve got to keep creating skins; you have to keep creating levels! You have to keep monetising to keep alive.
“We provide a way for you to do that. Give some creativity to the player, too. Then you can focus on making better game mechanics, more levels, new features, rather than having to design 12 skins.”
Customisation and revenue opportunities
Giving some creativity to the players is also part of Gaxos Labs, bringing new ideas for revenue opportunities. UGC remains a hot topic in the industry, and Gaxos Labs is intended to enable that within mobile games in a structured format to prevent misuse.
“We’re giving players the ability to generate and customise their own things,” explains Manny Benor, showing how, within guardrails, you can add the ability for players to design their own skins or avatars or even mini-games like jigsaw puzzles, using personalised content.
“The more power of customisation you give to a player, the more engaged they get.”
Manny Benor
“We have a game called BrawlBots,” he says, referring to a mobile shooter game where you can create your own little war machine.
“We need a kid-safe way to generate images – we can limit it to specific words. You pick three from the selection we provide, click Generate, and you create a unique sticker. It’s basically child-proof because nobody can enter their own prompt. But it’s still something for them – and the more power of customisation you give to a player, the more engaged they get.”
The Gaxos Labs suite wraps up a selection of leading AI tools in a development environment for both development and real-time gamer content, and it’s customisable depending on what you need.
There’s a monthly membership fee to use it, which also comes with a number of credits for using the AI models built in, then a micro fee if you want to use your own API keys and plug in other models you’re familiar with. It’s designed to be extendable, so as new AI models come out, they can be added in.
Game developers and publishers can check out the Gaxos Labs in-game AI-generation features by downloading Space Striker AI, Battle Fleet AI, BrawlBots and Jigsaw Puzzle AI, games created by Gaxos.ai to showcase the new tools.
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