Level-5 CEO Apologizes for AI Use in Recent Games Showcase

Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino has issued a public apology after confirming that generative AI was used in the studio’s recent digital showcase, which featured reveals for both Professor Layton and Yo-Kai Watch titles. The admission came after viewers flagged what they suspected was AI-generated footage in the presentation.

What Hino Said

Hino addressed the controversy directly on X/Twitter, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, explaining that the studio had incorporated AI into the showcase as an experiment aimed at making the presentation more visually striking. He apologized for leaving fans feeling uncomfortable, while being careful to draw a clear line between the showcase materials and the games themselves.

According to Hino, the actual titles in development are created entirely by human hands, and the creative identity that defines Level-5’s work is not being handed off to automated tools. His statement framed AI as a production utility rather than a creative replacement.

How Level-5 Plans to Use AI

Hino outlined a more limited role for AI within the studio’s pipeline, focusing on technical efficiency rather than content generation. One example he gave was using AI to convert existing artwork into polygon-based 3D assets, a process that can accelerate production without replacing the artistic decisions behind the original work.

This approach connects directly to an ambitious internal goal at Level-5: reducing the development cycle on major releases from five years down to two. Cutting that timeline significantly would require changes across the production process, and AI-assisted tooling appears to be part of how the studio intends to get there.

A Broader Industry Conversation

The Level-5 situation lands at a time when the games industry is actively debating how AI fits into creative workflows. GamesIndustry.biz noted separately that 61% of European game developers have expressed concern that generative AI will push them to work faster and deliver more output, though only 35% believe it could cost them their jobs or reduce demand for their skills.

For Level-5, the immediate challenge is rebuilding trust with a fanbase that felt misled by showcase materials that were not fully transparent about how they were produced. Whether Hino’s explanation satisfies that audience remains to be seen as the studio moves forward with its upcoming releases.

Sources: GamesIndustry.biz