Square Enix reveals plans to use AI to QA test their games by 2027

It seems Square Enix is betting big on AI in the coming years after revealing they’re intending on getting AI to run 70% of its quality assurance and debugging by the end of 2027.

Few aspects are more important in the development of a video game than quality assurance and debugging. Nothing is more frustrating than diving into a great game only to glitch through the floor or get stuck in a wall. Well, that’s what the QA and debugging are there for: fixing bugs before and after the game’s release.

Article continues after ad

Now, as seen in the Square Enix financial report, that job is mostly being handed over to AI, with a major shift happening towards automating quality assurance and debugging.

Square Enix to use AI for quality control and debugging by 2027

Following its latest financial results, Square Enix has announced a new partnership with the Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, which is focused on using AI to overhaul how games are tested and refined.

Article continues after ad

The collaboration, titled Joint Development of Game QA Automation Technology Using Generative AI, aims to “improve the efficiency of game development processes through AI technologies,” and it’s seemingly aiming to hand most of its project to AI for debugging and QA testing.

Article continues after ad

Square Enix

As highlighted in their progress report, Square Enix described the initiative as a way “to improve the efficiency of QA operations and establish a competitive advantage in game development” and plans to apply generative AI to identify bugs, automate testing workflows, and simulate real-world player behavior to find and fix issues faster.

While this likely won’t have a direct impact on players, it does highlight a major shift for Square Enix. Whether they utilize the workforce not needed for QA on other aspects of the game’s development or otherwise remains to be seen, but it’s certainly clear that the company is extremely focused on harnessing AI in the workplace.

Article continues after ad

Article continues after ad