AEG and its now-former COO, Ryan Dancey, have parted ways following backlash over comments about AI in game design.
AEG’s CEO, John Zinser, announced that the company’s former COO, Ryan Dancey, has parted ways with the company after commenting on LinkedIn, claiming that “game publishing isn’t an industry of unique special ideas” and that AI could make many of the company’s current games.
AEG Parts Ways With Dancey After AI Claims
The story starts two days ago on LinkedIn. There, Dancey shared a now-deleted post about AI and its application to any industry, including and especially game design, in response to another poster claiming that AI couldn’t have come up with games because it doesn’t “understand the human element of fun.” Here’s a screenshot of the post and a summary for those using a reader:
“I have zero reason to believe that an AI couldn’t ‘come up with Tiny Towns or Flip Seven or Cubitos’. I can prompt any of several AIs RIGHT NOW and get ideas for games as good as those. The gaming industry doesn’t exist because humans create otherwise unobtainable ideas. It exists because many many previous games exist, feed into the minds of designers, who produce new variants on those themes. People then apply risk capital against those ideas t see if there’s a product market fit. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there is not. (In fact, much more often than not).
Extremely occasionally (twice in my lifetime: D&D and Magic: the Gathering) a human has produced an all new form of gaming entertainment. Those moments are so rare and incandescent that they echo across decades.”
The Industry Responds
Across the board games community and industry people responded, with comments ranging from support to vehement rejection of the idea. After two days of this, AEG’s CEO John Zinser posted on BlueSky that the company was parting ways with Dancey.
“Today I want to share that Ryan Dancey and AEG have parted ways. This is not an easy post to write. Ryan has been a significant part of AEG’s story, and I am personally grateful for theyears of work , passion, and intensity he brought to the company. We have built a lot together.
AdvertisementAs AEG moves into its next chapter, leadership alignment and clarity matter more than ever. This transition reflects that reality. Our commitment to our designers, partners, retailers, and players remains unchanged. We will continue building great games through collaboration, creativity, and trust.”
Dancey has indeed been a storied part of the gaming industry writ large. He was VP at Wizards of the Coast when it acquired Dungeons & Dragons, for which he came up with the Open Gaming License. Dancey has responded on his LinkedIn, talking about the aftermath:
“Talking about AI, being honest about what it can and cannot do, and thinking about the implications is something we have to begin to do in a widespread way. Humans have a unique creative spark that differentiates us and makes us special, and we should celebrate that specialness as we experience this epic change.
For the record: I do not believe that AI will replace the work talented game designer/developers do, nor do I think it is appropriate to use AI to replace the role of designer/developers in the publication of tabletop games. During my time at AEG I developed an implemented policies and contracts that reflect those views. It’s important to me that you know what I believe and what I don’t believe on this particular topic, despite what you may have read elsewhere.”
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