Electronic Arts and Stability AI have teamed up to bring AI tech to the workforce, “empowering” artists, designers, and developers for making games.
The companies said partnership will help unlock faster iteration, accelerate workflows, and expand creative possibilities.
In a blog post, EA said “Creativity isn’t just part of what we do, it’s what drives us forward. It’s what transforms a blank canvas into a living, breathing world, and turns a single idea into an experience shared and loved by millions of players and fans around the globe.”
For more than 40 years, EA said it has led through technological shifts across interactive entertainment, redefining what is possible for its global community of players. At the core of that progress is the belief that technology powers creativity – amplifying imagination, accelerating expression, and enabling our teams to deliver bold, new experiences that inspire the world to play.
Dealing with controversy?
Of course, AI is controversial. Many game devs, already shocked by a few years of layoffs, are concerned that AI will eliminate jobs. That may be a driver behind unionization at a number of game studios. And it was a cause for a long actors’ strike in Hollywood.
Not all polls are negative. Google Cloud said a more recent survey showed 90% of game devs were using AI tools in their daily workflow.
Still, there’s reason to invest in AI. On the one hand, it can help with productivity gains across studio and company functions. On the other hand, investing in AI draws more value for companies these days, as evidenced by General Intuition‘s record $133.7 million seed round for its funding for its AI research business. And when EA announced its $55 billion agreement to sell itself to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and private equity firms in a record leveraged buyout, the company said it would make itself more efficient with AI.
We will have multiple sessions on these topics at our GamesBeat Next 2025 event in San Francisco on November 12 and November 13. This event is always about the crossover of games and technology, and this year it’s loaded with AI talks.
Long investments in AI
EA said that machine learning and AI have long been cornerstones of innovation at EA —
powering everything from intelligent gameplay and real-time animation to physics simulation, pathfinding solutions, and more efficient development pipelines.
Now the company said it is taking the next step on that journey. With Stability AI, EA will co-develop “transformative AI models, tools, and workflows that empower our artists, designers, and developers to reimagine how content is built. A global leader in generative technology, Stability AI’s work is revolutionizing visual media.
Last year, EA said that it was able to create 11,000 likenesses of athletes for its EA Sports College Football game in just three months, thanks to making the first pass of the 3D images with AI.
Empowering teams
EA said that, with humans at the center of storytelling, it is evolving how teams work so that AI becomes a trusted ally: supporting faster iteration, expanding creative possibilities, accelerating workflows, and allowing more time to focus on what matters most – building world-class games and experiences that entertain massive online communities.
It can draft, generate, and analyze, but it can’t imagine, empathize, or dream, EA said.
That’s the work of EA’s extraordinary artists, designers, developers, storytellers, and innovators, the company said, and this partnership will help empower creatives to do what they do best.
“Creativity has always been at the heart of everything our teams do,” says Kallol Mitra, VP of creative innovation at EA, in a statement. “Together with Stability AI, we’re amplifying that creativity. Giving artists, designers, and developers the power to dream bigger and build more.”
“I use the term smarter paintbrushes,” said Steve Kestell, head of technical art for EA Sports, in a statement. “We are giving our creatives the tools to express what they want. Tools that will allow creativity to get directly from people’s minds, and into our experiences.”
Igniting potential
Among the first initiatives of this collaboration will be to accelerate the creation of Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials through the development of new artist-driven workflows – for example, tools that generate 2D textures that maintain exact color and light accuracy across any environment.
Whether it’s the flash of color of a football jersey under a floodlit stadium or the subtle gleam of a coffee table in soft morning light, these textures help objects in a virtual world look and feel as the artist envisioned, and we’ll now be able to do this faster and with higher quality.
For years, Machine Learning and AI have enabled our teams to develop technologies like HeadStart, which leverages photos to create authentic in-game likenesses. This partnership will allow us to bring that same speed and scale to the entire 3D space by accelerating the content creation process and ultimately allowing our artists to do more.
Beyond individual assets, the partnership explores AI systems that can pre-visualize entire 3D environments from a series of intentional prompts, allowing artists to creatively direct the generation of game content.
These advancements open exciting new doors for rapid prototyping and visual storytelling, allowing artists and developers to ideate, visualize, and refine gameplay experiences at a faster pace and with greater scale.
These are just a few examples of what is to come, EA said.
“EA has always been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of technology, innovation, and play,” says Rick Stringfellow, head of visual content for EA Entertainment, in a statement. “Partnerships like this are how we evolve the craft of game-making and give our teams the tools to tell deeper, more meaningful stories.”
For Stability EA, the deal is a big endorsement on years of work as an AI pioneer.
“EA is a pioneer in interactive entertainment and understands that innovation begins with the creator,” said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Stability AI, in a statement. “At Stability AI, we put creators at the center and build around their specific needs. By embedding our 3D research team directly with EA’s artists and developers we’ll unlock the next level in world-building power. This kind of progress is only possible through deep partnership, where scientists and creators work side by side.”
I asked Stability AI about protections and guardrails around AI-created content.
“Stability AI adheres to industry standard methods for data set collection and model training. We source data from publicly available data sets and licensed data sets,” said a spokesperson for Stability EA.
“The future is interactive and we’re building it now,” EA said. “The future of creativity at EA is brighter than ever.”
The company added, “With partners like Stability AI, we’re opening new creative frontiers that will shape how our teams design, build, and bring experiences to players around the world. These tools are helping our artists, designers, and developers do what they do best—tell incredible stories, craft unforgettable worlds, and deliver moments that inspire the world to play.”