Capcom’s development team behind the upcoming sci-fi action game Pragmata revealed they never anticipated artificial intelligence would become such a dominant real-world phenomenon when they first conceived their game’s hostile AI antagonist. In an exclusive interview with IGN at Tokyo Game Show 2025, game director Cho Yonghee and producer Naoto Oyama expressed surprise at how quickly reality has caught up with their fictional narrative about an AI takeover of a lunar space station.
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Unforeseen Parallels Between Fiction and Reality
When Capcom’s development team began working on Pragmata several years ago, artificial intelligence represented a distant sci-fi concept rather than the transformative technology it has become. “We really couldn’t predict that AI would be this big from where we started from what you see now,” Yonghee told IGN. The rapid advancement of real-world AI systems has created an unexpected situation where the game’s fictional technology now appears less advanced than existing capabilities. According to a McKinsey Global Survey, AI adoption has more than doubled since 2017, with organizations using AI in multiple business functions. This explosive growth has created what Yonghee describes as a situation where “the real life AI’s progression or development, it’s been so fast that it’s perhaps overtaken what we have in the game right now.”
Early Creative Decisions Locked In
Despite the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence in the real world, Pragmata’s core narrative remains unchanged from its original conception. Producer Naoto Oyama emphasized that “we have this sort of the idea of the AI in the game locked down very early in the development back when we released the concept trailer back a few years ago.” This early creative direction means the game reflects AI concepts from several years ago rather than incorporating recent developments like generative AI or large language models. The Capcom team’s experience mirrors challenges faced across the entertainment industry, where production timelines often span multiple years while technology evolves at an accelerating pace. According to the Pew Research Center, most technology experts express concern about the difficulty of aligning AI development with ethical considerations, a theme that Pragmata explores through its narrative of a hostile AI takeover.
The Shrinking Gap Between Sci-Fi and Reality
The development team noted with surprise how quickly the future they envisioned has approached present reality. “We created to be in the near future, but the future has come closer,” Oyama remarked during the interview. This compression of technological timelines presents unique challenges for science fiction creators who must now contend with real-world developments outpacing their fictional scenarios. Yonghee speculated that “by the time that we reach the age or the time where Pragmata takes place, people are not using the word AI even anymore,” suggesting that the technology will become so integrated into daily life that it ceases to be remarkable. This perspective aligns with analysis from Gartner, which predicts that by 2026, organizations that operationalize AI transparency, trust and security will see their AI models achieve 50% better results in terms of adoption, business goals and user acceptance.
Gameplay in an AI-Dominated World
Pragmata places players in the role of spacefarer Hugh Williams, who must collaborate with an android named Diana to combat a hostile AI controlling a space station and return to Earth. The game’s premise of human-machine partnership against rogue artificial intelligence takes on new resonance in light of recent real-world AI developments. As the United Nations notes, the integration of AI into critical systems requires careful consideration of safety and control mechanisms. The game’s development team at Capcom, known for franchises like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, brings extensive action game expertise to this sci-fi narrative. With the game scheduled for 2026 release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, Pragmata arrives at a moment when public awareness and concern about artificial intelligence has never been higher, creating both opportunities and challenges for its reception.
References:
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- IGN – Original interview source
- McKinsey AI Adoption Survey – Industry adoption data
- Capcom Official – Developer information
- Pew Research AI Ethics – Expert perspectives
- Gartner – AI development predictions
- United Nations AI Impact – Global AI considerations
