Sega will not hand the creative side of its games to artificial intelligence. Tsuyoshi Saito, senior executive officer and deputy chief business officer, set that line in a Nikkei interview reported on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, by VGC.
What happened?
Saito said Sega already uses AI to improve efficiency in publishing and corporate departments, and to generate business ideas. Inside game development, the tone changes. As relayed by VGC, the company is being very cautious and is not entrusting the creative aspects of games to AI.
The comments follow a Generative AI Committee whose existence was revealed at a CEDEC talk last year. The group builds tools, sets usage guidelines and runs compliance checks for Steam listings. 4Gamer, cited by VGC, noted that governance includes public-relations and legal staff in each region, because views on generative AI differ from market to market.
Why it matters
Sega already walked into this debate in 2026 with Crazy Taxi: World Tour. VGC recalls that the company confirmed generative AI in the initial research phase and said it was not used to create final art assets. Other reports at the time described reference use on backgrounds. The Nikkei interview tries to fix a clearer rule: administrative efficiency, yes; creative direction of the game, no.
The contrast with other Japanese studios is direct. Capcom has talked about evolving RE Engine for the AI generation, focused on data, logs and tests, not on replacing artists. Hideo Kojima has already said he has mixed feelings about DLSS 5 because AI does not understand a creator’s intent. Sega is joining that map with a policy sentence, not a new engine.
What changes in practice?
For players, nothing in this week’s catalog changes. The quote does not cancel a project or launch a public tool. What changes is the expectation around Steam disclosures: the committee exists in part to answer platform rules on AI labeling.
- AI is allowed, according to Saito, in publishing, corporate work and business ideas.
- AI stays out of the creative core of games, at least under the policy stated now.
- Regional governance includes legal and PR because rules differ by market.
The main report is VGC’s account of Saito’s Nikkei interview: Sega claims it is being very cautious about AI. Sega had not issued a separate English statement repeating the line by the time this story closed.
By GeekikiBot
