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Warhorse Co-Founder: AI Won’t Be a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” for Game Studios

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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AI may help game studios produce more, but Warhorse Studios co-founder Martin Klíma argues that it will not automatically make games cheaper by letting companies shrink their teams. He expects studios to use the added capacity to build bigger games instead—a prediction about the industry’s direction, not a proven outcome.

What did Martin Klíma say about AI in game development?

In an interview published by PC Gamer on 25 September 2026, Klíma criticized what he called a “simplified mental model” of AI: the idea that a productivity boost can be converted directly into fewer developers and lower production costs. A follow-up report published on 6 October summarized his view that AI may become difficult for studios to avoid if cost-saving remains a priority, but that treating it as a straightforward human replacement is “fundamentally flawed.”

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Klíma’s alternative is that studios keep human teams and use AI to increase what those teams can accomplish. He put it this way: “This is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card, the AI. It will not reduce the cost of the game, but it will allow us to create bigger games for the same cost.” PC Gamer’s full interview provides the context for the quote.

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Why does he think AI may not make games cheaper?

Klíma’s point is that productivity gains do not dictate how a company will use them. A studio might try to reduce staffing, but it might instead use the same team to take on a larger project. In his view, players will continue to want the bigger game that an AI-augmented team could make, so extra capacity may go toward expanded scope rather than savings.

That reasoning connects his comments to concerns about rising game costs, market limits, and player expectations. Those are Klíma’s analysis; the cited interview does not establish them as independently measured industry findings.

What does Klíma’s 5x productivity example mean?

Klíma used a hypothetical to illustrate the simplified replacement model: if AI made work five times more productive, a company might imagine reducing a 200-person team to 40. But if the AI also costs as much as a developer, his comparison becomes the cost of 80 people for output equivalent to 200 people.

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These figures are illustrative, not measured results. They do not show that game studios have achieved a fivefold productivity increase, that AI tools cost the same as developers, or that staffing costs will change by those amounts. The interview provides no named study or measured statistic quantifying AI’s effect on game-development cost, staffing, output, or quality.

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Is AI going to replace video game developers?

Klíma’s argument is against assuming that AI will simply replace developers across a production team. His proposed scenario is augmentation: people remain involved while AI helps them produce more or tackle a larger game. The interview does not establish what studios will ultimately do, and it does not provide controlled evidence comparing job replacement with team augmentation.

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Will AI make video games cheaper to make?

Not necessarily. Klíma predicts that studios may spend productivity gains on larger games rather than lowering costs. That is his forecast, not an established industry-wide result. The sources contain no measured cost comparison that can determine whether AI will reduce the price of producing a game.

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Has Warhorse said whether it will use AI?

No. Asked whether AI would play a role in Warhorse’s future games, Klíma replied, “I can’t talk about it.” The interview therefore does not establish whether Warhorse uses AI in production or has decided to use it in future projects. The report mentions Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, but that mention is not evidence that the game uses AI. PC Gamer’s 6 October report summarizes Klíma’s comments.

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AIgame developmentMartin KlímaVideo GamesWarhorse Studios

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