Omnihanded Entertainmet News | ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ boss bashes Elon Musk’s “great AI game” plan

Baldur’s Gate 3 boss Michael Douse has hit out at Elon Musk’s plan for “great” AI-generated games to be possible by the end of next year.

Over the weekend, Musk confirmed his xAI studio was planning on releasing “great” AI-generated video games by the end of next year while “very good” AI movies would be possible by 2027.

xAI is currently recruiting “video game tutors” and paying them up to $100 a day to train AI on design concepts, mechanics and storytelling. Back in February, xAI was able to generate a basic version of Tetris and 2D game Bubble Trouble but struggled with retro sound effects. Last year, Musk said his xAI studio would “make games great again”.

Too many game studios that are owned by massive corporations. @xAI is going to start an AI game studio to make games great again! https://t.co/UR4nFODyfd

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024

AI is currently used in various stages of game development as a tool to streamline programming and help avoid crunch. However, the idea of a fully AI-generated game has been met with criticism from gaming fans and industry experts including Michael Douse, the publishing director of Larian Studios, who released the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023.

Taking to X yesterday, Douse wrote: “AI has its place as a tool, but we have all the tools in the world and they aren’t compensating for the incredible lack of cogent direction. AI isn’t going to solve the big problem of the industry, which is leadership & vision. Genuinely what this industry needs is not more mathematically produced, psychologically trained gameplay loops, rather more expressions of worlds that folks are engaged with, or want to engage with.”

He went on to say that the collapse of physical game shops should have been replaced with publishers “connecting directly with audiences” and building relationships with gamers. “That did not happen. It became a game of headless chickens racing to the profit and loss sheet. AI isn’t going to solve that. Those who will succeed are those who are people building something for people.”

Like all growing markets, cloud, sub etc it will be a matter of time before there are roots. There will be roots. But not necessarily in the direction the industry as it currently stands needs to heal from the rug of retail being pulled beneath its feet. We need more human-human…

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 6, 2025

Speaking to NME last year, Baldur’s Gate 3 voice actor Samantha Béart said she was “worried” about the future of gaming because of the threat of AI. “Automation has replaced so many things already, and I’m not surprised it’s coming for art. If enough people don’t mind AI, or if it’s allowed to creep in, we’re in trouble. It needs to crash and burn.”

OpenAI recently released a new update for its Sora generative AI platform which saw a number of videos featuring Super Mario, The Legend Of Zelda and Pokémon characters. Shortly afterwards, Nintendo promised to take “necessary action” over copyright infringement and OpenAI CEO offered more “control” for rights holders.

In other news, Call Of Duty’s rivalry with Battlefield is heating up with Black Ops 6 going free-to-play at the same time that Battlefield 6 launches.

Warning: Spoilers for Borderlands 3 and 4 below

After spending a chunk of time on Kairos, players eventually run into the Siren Amara in Borderlands 4 as part of their quest to find the villainous Vile Lector. Amara was the playable Siren character first introduced in 2019’s Borderlands 3, but EpicNNG believes that the files they uncovered pointed toward players originally teaming up with a different Siren at this point in the story: Ava.

Alright I guess we’re gonna talk about it:
AVA WAS CUT FROM BORDERLANDS 4
There are numerous files related to her in the game, more specifically outlining that she was completely replaced by Amara late in development. This means yes, she was originally going to team up with… https://t.co/QF8ESnQp0p pic.twitter.com/tBoVNJ8hpq

— EpicNNG (@EpicNNG) October 6, 2025

The Siren-in-training made her debut in Borderlands 3, but over the years, she’s become more hated than Claptrap due to her role in that game and her overall character arc. The files discovered by EpicNNG have several “Ava” titles, and Amara uses powers that are very similar to Ava’s own Siren abilities that she inherited from her deceased mentor, Maya.

“It would appear everything aside from references has been completely scrubbed, including audio files, models, and more,” EpicNNG added, noting that this might have been an “intentional blunder” from a Gearbox employee, given just how difficult it is to pick through Borderlands 4 data for clues on post-release content. “This game is airtight on datamining,” they explained. “Nothing pre-or post release is in the files as of now. More credibility to this being intentional[ly] left in by a dev.”

Ava’s role in Borderlands 3 drew a lot of criticism, with many players pointing out her grating personality, her role in getting fan-favorite character Maya killed by the Calypso Twins, and her immature outbursts. Essentially, she was the Scrappy-Doo of Borderlands, but a deleted scene from the game did suggest that a redemption arc for her was on the cards, as she realized how her actions had led to Maya’s death.

Last year, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford asked his audience how they’d feel about Ava returning, with the general consensus being heavily against seeing the young Siren in Borderlands 4.

Whether Ava returns or not remains to be seen, but we do know that another familiar face, Moxxi’s daughter Ellie, will be a major character in the first Borderlands 4 post-launch expansion alongside the new Vault Hunter C4sh.