At the intersection of creativity and code, Indian gaming startups are unlocking a powerful new cheat code: generative artificial intelligence (AI). From building myth-infused battle royales to streamlining user experience, developers are now increasingly turning to GenAI to optimise production, enhance user experiences, and scale operations.
GenAI in asset creation
Speaking at the Storyboard18s Digital Entertainment Summit (DES) 2025, industry leaders revealed how this shift is redefining Indias gaming narrative. It is now being used by gaming companies to speed up ideation, asset generation, playtesting, and even marketing creatives. GenAI is now used to optimise in-game economies, procedural world-building, automated quality assurance (QA), dynamic content personalisation, AI-powered game companions, and more.
Industry leaders weigh in
Deepak MV, chief executive of Openplay Technologies, a Nazara group company, said the company started studying how GenAI could impact user experience and internal workflows. He said, AI is a co-pilot for the UX, QA team, playtesting, and design teams.”
Meanwhile, Nazara Technologies, Indias only publicly listed gaming company, has recently secured a fresh investment from Axana Estates LLP and made its debut in the virtual reality (VR) gaming space . Additionally, the company has partnered with global tech companies and AI startups to delve deeper in the field and assemble teams with GenAI expertise. Nazara has even formed a dedicated AI task force, trained on massive datasets, to build tailor-made use cases in-house.
For Roby John, founder of SuperGaming, GenAI is an equaliser. He added that GenAI has raised the ambitions of young studios which usually struggle with limited funding and give them a fair chance at competing. AI is a great leveler because teams that have produced similar games either have a 25-year culture of game production or have teams of 500 people. So, AI is kind of best bet for competing on these big dimensions, John said. SuperGaming’s flagship game Indusa battle royale steeped in Indian loreis partly powered by AI-generated art and storytelling assets.
Meanwhile, Anurag Choudhary, founder of Felicity Games has a different lens. He called GenAI the silent helper in casual gaming. According to him, gaming is an interactive medium that has a lasting effect, which stays with players even when they are not actively playing. Additionally, for gamesdesign, difficulty balance, and engagement matter more than art alone. While AI makes development easier, success still depends on smart monetisation and player retention strategies.
Concerns and scope of GenAIs role
However, a growing concern which is becoming very acknowledged is AI outpacing human creators. This threat looms as GenAI permeates the gaming ecosystem as well. Choudhary signaled an alarm over the same, saying if AI begins to understand humans better than they understand themselves, everyone in the industry will be out of business.
Alternatively, Abhishek Ravi, chief information officer at Dream Sports, believes GenAI has brought renewed energy to the sector. At Dream Sports, AI adoption is company-widefrom leadership to interns. We have adopted AI from the top-down to bottom-up, where every team is freely experimenting. Henceforth, the company is also releasing the features at a much faster pace than the year ago, leading to more internal excitement. Adding to this, Deepak MV also acknowledged that AI has become an integral part of his personal workflow as it is being used to build plans and fast-track decision-making.
