Chen Mo – the man behind Heroes of Jin Yong – on AI and making a blockbuster game
On the top floor of a trendy anime-themed mall near Beijing’s Chaoyang Park, a three-minute trailer gave a taste of what is expected to be China’s next blockbuster role-playing video game. On the large screen, characters called Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar appeared in exquisitely rendered martial arts duels. Rising above…
On the large screen, characters called Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar appeared in exquisitely rendered martial arts duels. Rising above it all with a sinister smile was Dongfang Bubai, a martial artist who castrated himself to learn the secrets of the skills in the legendary Sunflower Manual.
The game brings characters from all 14 of the author’s wuxia novels, works that have been enjoyed by generations of people within China and in Chinese communities around the world.
The game is still in development and, with its billion-yuan price tag, already on track to be the most expensive ever made in China.
But just days after the trailer’s release in late January, its producer came under fire from fans, who queried elements of the storyline and whether the makers were using artificial intelligence (AI) – an accusation akin to plagiarism in the gaming world.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Chen Mo, the 42-year-old founder of CreateAI, the company behind the new incarnation of the game, defended the new venture and said that while AI was in the firm’s name, it was not in the animation process.
