Shuhei Yoshida on the future of gaming

Yoshida sees hybrid console-handhelds, not pure phones or cloud, as gaming's near-term future, with AI already reshaping indie development economics.

• AI adoption is already universal: Yoshida says every studio, big or small, already uses AI tools, but developers fear admitting it publicly due to gamer backlash; anonymous surveys reveal near-unanimous belief AI helps.
• Indie teams shrink dramatically: One Asian indie founder manages eight AI agents and could soon invest in "tokens" instead of hiring; friends without programming skills now ship games solo using AI coding partners, one aiming for two releases a year.

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