Level-5 CEO admits using generative AI in recent showcase

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino has apologized after confirming generative AI was used in the studio’s recent digital showcase. Viewers had flagged signs of AI-generated footage in reveals for Professor Layton and Yo-Kai Watch, prompting Hino to address the backlash on X/Twitter.

Hino said the AI was used to make the presentation “more spectacular” as an experiment, and stressed that Level-5’s games themselves are not AI-made. He framed the studio’s creative output as coming from “human hands,” while positioning AI as a production aid rather than a replacement for authored content.

The practical angle for developers is less about content generation and more about pipeline efficiency. Hino pointed to uses such as converting artwork into polygons, which fits Level-5’s broader goal of cutting major development timelines from five years to two.

That makes this a useful case study for teams weighing where generative AI belongs in the pipeline: presentation, asset conversion, and other time-saving tasks versus anything that touches the final creative identity of a game. It also lands in the middle of a wider industry debate about whether AI speeds teams up or simply raises expectations for output.