The first type is the top 0.0001 per cent of “most insightful geniuses with the deepest understanding and exceptional design skills, forming elite teams to create something that has never existed before”, while the second type consists of the 99 per cent of “hobbyists who can create a game on a whim just to satisfy their own ideas”, according to Cai’s post.
Cai Haoyu is one of the three co-founders of Shanghai-based video gaming studio miHoYo. Photo: Handout
In the global video gaming market, which research firm Newzoo has forecast to generate US$187.7 billion in revenue this year, hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line even as new AI tools help boost creativity and reduce decades of escalating costs across the industry.
He is behind AIGC start-up Anuttacon, according to a report on Friday by Chinese gaming media Coreesports. It is unclear what role he plays in Anuttacon, where he is joined by mainland video gaming veterans including from Microsoft, Tencent Holdings and Bilibili.
Shanghai-based miHoYo is the creator of Genshin Impact, which in 2020 had the biggest international launch of a Chinese video game. Photo: Shutterstock
According to its website, Anuttacon’s ultimate goal is to “create new, innovative, intelligent and deeply engaging virtual world experiences and AGI [artificial general intelligence] products harnessing the full potential of AI technology”.
Cai, Liu Wei and Luo Yuhao were engineering postgraduates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University when they established miHoYo in 2011. Cai had held the roles of chairman and chief executive, while Liu served as president and Luo had a director’s seat. Cai last year relinquished his seat on miHoYo’s board of directors and handed over his roles as company chairman and legal representative to Liu. It is unclear what has become of the chief executive position.
The LinkedIn post of Cai comes at a time when the mainland’s video gaming industry has attracted strong global attention on the back of blockbuster title Black Myth: Wukong, which is now driving a wave of economic activities across multiple sectors.
According to Chinese professional networking platform Maimai, a few designers and software engineers of the game’s developer, Game Science, have recently put would-be recruiters on notice by affixing phrases such as “not looking for new jobs” and “recruiters please don’t disturb” on their accounts.
