AIModern AI-based games will lead to a number of benefits in the gaming industry.

Since 1997 when IBM’s computer program beat Garry Kasparov at chess, AI-based games have played a prominent and important role in the gaming world. AI is now being used in various ways to improve videos, games, and VR. These 7 game companies are changing the way players interact with non-player characters, as well as increasing player engagement in games. They aim to do this through state-of-the-art technology that will give an enhanced experience to gamers.

APEX Game Tools

How it's using AI in games: Founded in 2014, Apex Game Tools is a leading provider of AI-based games and tools for game development. 

Beyond working with other companies for AI research, Apex conducts its own research in machine learning. Apex provides a lot of tools and products, including Utility AI, a scoring-based framework for computer games. It provides multiple decisions with scores and then the AI makes the choice. Thousands of developers and companies use Apex to power their projects

Industry impact: When fighting an enemy, Apex Utility AI can help figure out what needs to be done. Is the environment safe enough for you to go outside of cover? Does the enemy need to be shot or attacked? All things considered, it's more important to take cover before firing.

Blizzard Entertainment

How it's using AI in games: Blizzard Entertainment is behind many successful videogames, including World of Warcraft or StarCraft. 

The company’s StarCraft franchise is a strategy game with single- and multiplayer modes. Due to its real-time strategy function, the game is of special interest to researchers exploring AI-based games While AlphaGo has mastered board games like Go, StarCraft presents different challenges that the AI can't see due to the map's complexity.

Industry impact: Deep Mind made some tools for Blizzard called SC2LE. These tools were for researching AI within StarCraft II.

DeepMind

How it's using AI in games: DeepMind is a Google-owned artificial intelligence research company that was founded in 2010 and started out in London, UK.

Though Google's DeepMind has roots in many different disciplines, the company is best known for releasing AlphaGo, a program designed to play the board game Go. The AlphaGo Zero program (the next iteration of artificial intelligence) was created to play and learn the game, and it became increasingly skilled with every iteration.

Industry impact: In October 2015, AlphaGo won a game against a professional human player. It has since beaten the highest-ranked player in the world

EA

How it's using AI in games: Electronic Arts is a game company that delivers digital gaming content and services to over 300 million players worldwide.

EA has a lot of AI-based games in its portfolio, with the Madden NFL, EA Sports, Need for Speed, Battlefield & The Sims ones being the most popular. However, they're always looking to innovate and their latest AI agent is no different. This agent taught itself how to play Battlefield

Industry impact: Besides the self-learning Battlefield 1 agent, EA developed a 3D game environment built specifically for deep learning networks to navigate

Opsive

How it's using AI in games: Opsive is an indie game company creating games and assets using the Unity development platform

Opsive’s exciting new development is a behavior tree generator for Unity that uses cutting-edge AI-based games. Behavior trees let game developers program an agent that shifts between sets of tasks assigned to a non-player character, resulting in a variety of behaviors.

Industry impact: Opsive’s Behavior Designer is currently being used by multiple games, including A Dragon Named Coal, Creativerse, Immortal Redneck, and Warcube.

Spirit AI 

How it's using AI in games: Spirit AI uses artificial intelligence technology to make digital interactions more humane. The company has two AI products, Ally and Character Engine,  each with its own purpose in the gaming industry. 

The authoring tool and SDK, Character Engine, allow digital characters to communicate more naturally with the player via a natural language processor. It also understands the context of the conversation, allowing the character to choose the best answer or create their own. Ally is an intelligent anti-bullying bot that uses machine learning and predictive analytics to detect offensive words and behaviors in the gamer community and in-game chat rooms. The purpose of these AI-based games is to create a more comprehensive and friendly gaming environment. 

Industry Impact: Currently compatible with online games, Ally recognizes perceived harassment and takes action. Spirit is committed to making bots available in virtual reality environments as well. 

TruSoft 

How it's using AI in games: TruSoft is a software company that researches and develops technologies that advance AI-based games. Its notable technology, Artificial Contender (AC), is  AI middleware that can deliver behavior-capturing game agents. 

Gaming applications: AI technology creates agents with a more natural development style. Agents can be trained to learn human behavior and playstyles through the controller, rather than simply being programmed. AC, already used in sports games, allows real celebrities and athletes to train their game version. 

Industry Impact: AC was used to develop Sony's This Is Football game. In this game, AC agents perform dribbling, passing, shooting, and other skills in a style similar to a human coach.