The Pines, the cinematic, investigative thriller from Studio Abattoir showed off its first gameplay trailer at Summer Game Fest. After that, we spoke to Kevin Jochems, the sole developer behind the studio, and the game, about all things The Pines, including nods to iconic films and games, Unreal Engine benefits and more.
In today’s day and age, with it everywhere, AI is a contentious subject, and with the scope of The Pines, and the fact its a single developer behind the project, I thought it fair to ask Jochems about whether AI is being used at all. He said:
“AI isn’t used in anything the player will see or play. But I do use AI to scan the internet for certain forums on topics I need for the game. This is much quicker than googling and searching for it myself. But AI isn’t used in coding or generating art for the final game.”
As far as AI usage goes, this is about as good as it gets, and there’s likely no-one in any creative endeavour that isn’t using ways to speed up do the boring research jobs. As long as it isn’t generative, it’s unlikely gamers will have any issue. When asked why he’s not using AI on The Pines for the creative aspects, Jochem continued:
“The same as with video. Clients ask me frequently if I can do things with AI. But I just won’t. I refuse to prompt and click to see stuff someone else created and make it mine. It’s a really false sense of creativity that I don’t like. I like creating stuff myself and using AI just takes the fun out of it.”
Not holding back, Jochems didn’t miss the opportunity to really tell me what he thought of AI when asked what he thought of the influx of AI usage in the games industry recently:
“Players see it if it’s used in a game and I think the majority of the players hate it, including myself. But if used right by smaller devs with little to no budget, I don’t really mind. But we’ll see what the future brings. I don’t believe people will buy AI generated stuff and will always prefer another human’s story. But I could be completely wrong. We’ll see.”
The Pines is due to release in 2027 on PC, with no announced news for consoles.
Will you be playing The Pines from Studio Abattoir when it launches next year? Let us know in the comments!
For more from us, check out the news for CULTIC launching on consoles, or Frostpunk 2 details on its second DLC.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
