Report: 30% of game devs believe AI will play an "extremely important role" in QA testing

According to a new study from Modl.ai, 30% of game developers believe that artificial intelligence will play an "extremely important" role in QA processes.

Conducted in September 2024, the Danish AI firm surveyed 303 US-based game developers across various departments including QA, production, art, programming, game and level design, audio, and studio leadership.

Of those surveyed, 94% think that AI had already been incorporated into their studios to support processes such as test scripts, automated bug reporting, and playtesting automation.

The report suggested that the use of AI for "repetitive, tedious, and data-heavy tasks" could allow developers to focus on "creative and exploratory" QA work where "human involvement really makes a difference."

This is particularly pertinent as 77% of respondents said they felt as though they conducted "less QA than they should have" due to time and resource constraints.

Nearly half of those surveyed said that AI was most useful for faster bug detection, as well as automated bug reporting and 24/7 testing capabilities.

As for the cost-effectiveness of AI in QA, 15% said it was "very cost effective" followed by 40% believing it was "somewhat cost effective" and 34% remaining neutral on the subject.

However, skepticism remains around using AI in QA processes, with the majority of developers citing "lack of human intuition" as their main concern alongside a "potential for inaccuracies" and "inconsistent results."

"AI complements human expertise; it doesn't replace it," said Modl.ai CEO and co-founder Christoffer Holmgård.

"QA processes are an integral part of game development, so as you start using AI, the tools will have to focus on human-AI collaboration. Developers must consider their concrete workflows and where the AI tools fit."