Gaxos launches Gaxos Labs AI development tools for game devs

Gaxos.AI has launched its Gaxos Labs AI development tools so game developers can increase revenue, accelerate development and empower player creativity.

Roseland, New Jersey-based Gaxos has debuted Gaxos Labs, its AI tools for game developers and publishers. It empowers game developers to accelerate the development process, enhance creativity and increase revenue through its proprietary generative AI asset editor and Unity plugin.

It also has a player-facing generative AI offering which developers can put in their games to make players more creative, said Manny Benor, director of operations at Gaxos, in an interview with GamesBeat.

“There are two pain points we address. Originally, we built this tool for ourselves internally, and we actually thought it was so cool that we should share it across the world,” Benor said. “We help develpers work faster. On the second point, we help players. People who don’t know prompt engineering can help generate more unique and creative ideas.”

With Gaxos Labs, developers can quickly create, refine, and manage AI-generated assets, and seamlessly import those creations into their Unity workflow. The new tool also introduces a turn–key solution for offering generative AI integration into their games for their players that will give developers a new revenue growth opportunity.

By integrating the new Gaxos Labs solution into their game titles, developers can insert a new and exciting game mechanic that enables players to instantly create and use new custom content, including unique cosmetics and game models. It can be used for 2D art or 3D art, depending on the model used.

Gaxos Labs integrates Gaxos’ proprietary AI technology, while also integrating top AI-generation tools like Dall-E, Stability.ai and Meshy, to create a robust development environment for game developers and publishers. This includes streamlining the creation of images, textures, masks, icons and other assets quickly, ensuring every game is tailored to individual developers’ creativity and imagination, while enabling them to quickly drop their new AI creations into their Unity game.

“Gaxos Labs is a new AI tool suite  that will advance player customization and accelerate game development,” said Vadim Mats, CEO of Gaxos, in a statement. “We built the tools as a way to support game developers and publishers by not only giving them an innovative way to increase productivity and empower creativity, but to generate revenue. With studios downsizing and being shuttered, it’s more important than ever before that we find new solutions to increase revenue for game studios.”

Mats added, “With Gaxos Labs, developers can put the power of creation in the hands of their players, enriching their experience while also adding a new, streamlined way to increase revenue through an infinite possibility of cosmetics. We look forward to working with studios on integrating Gaxos Labs AI solution into their titles.” 

Getting started

Gaxos started in 2022, and it includes a personalized healthcare business aided by AI. Gaxos toyed with blockchain for a bit where token buyers could get special privileges, but it moved away from that. This year, it switched to the AI-based tools. The Gaxos Labs division has about 12 people. They found their tools could help developers.

The company integrates several different AI large language models (LLMs) through an application programming interface (API) into a game company’s workflow. Gaxos has built a graphical user interface for Unity and it is working on others for Godot and Unreal.

“We let you access multiple AI models, and prototyping is much faster. Things that would have taken months can take you weeks instead,” he said.

To create a mesh, the company has added different options into the API. Artists can use Dall-E or Stability AI, or use Gaxos Labs, which is based on Stable Diffusion.

“If you’re an enterprise person, we can also help you customize it, adding to it so that it’s more unique to your specific needs,” Benor said. “If you have your own API keys, you can also use them, putting them here.”

Developers can use their own credits for generating images via a microtransaction. It an be used for 2D images or 3D images, depending on the model.

“You don’t have to really use us if you don’t want to,” he said.

Benor noted that legal rulings have noted that you can’t copyright anything generated by an AI. Over time, Gaxos will add more LLMs so each studio can choose which one they are most comfortable with. The goal is for Gaxos to be a multi-tool. You can also enter in negative prompts, like saying an image should look less like Mickey Mouse, to avoid copyright problems.

Working faster with AI

Game developers and publishers can get a first-hand look at the Gaxos Labs in-game AI-generation features by downloading Space Striker AI, Battle Fleet AI, Brawl Bots and Jigsaw Puzzle AI — games created by Gaxos to showcase the new tools.

The Gaxos team insists it’s not about eliminating jobs through AI.

“Some companies are saying they have the best AI. Our approach is more like, ‘how can we actually help you do things faster?’,” Benor said. “The market constantly moves and you have to be on top of it and be able to work faster. We think multiple AI models allow you to do that. It’s helping you do the work faster, not to replace you. We don’t see AI replacing people. We see new skills being built and the ability to do things faster.”

“It’s similar to like when computers came out, right? People were afraid it’s going to replace them and eliminate lots of jobs. But I see it as you’re going to have to learn a new skill, and you’re going to be able to do more,” Benor said. “You still need a human hand to get it passed on through to the end where it looks great. Our plan is not to generate this code for you. I think this is an awesome tool. Anything that can make good people work better and faster is just a good solution.”

When connected to monetization, the AI generation for players tool can create a new revenue stream through real-time content generation that gives players the opportunity to become the architects of their own experiences. With Gaxos Labs, they can generate and customize in-game elements—from swords and flags to characters and landscapes. Once a generated asset is selected, it is instantly inserted into the game for players to use as part of this new enriched experience. 

You can use the tool to make an asset look much more like you want it to be. But for a 4K asset, a team will need an artist and editor to look it over.

“But you can get the prototyping and concept art done and that saves a bunch of time,” Benor said.

Generating revenue

The second part of what the company enables with Gaxos Labs is revenue generation. Developers for mobile or multiplayer games can allow players to create skins on the fly using a prompt. So then the player can create truly unique avatars or skins for vehicles in a game. If you’re using the right LLM, you can upload an image to a model and then edit it.

A player can take an image like a dragon and Gaxos can turn it into a puzzle that other players can play.

“We envision players paying for the right to generate their own stuff,” he said. “We’ve seen people spend hours and hours just trying to create the perfect skin for something. We think that’s going to increase engagement with players and allow them to feel more ownership in the game. You know how competitive people get in games and how unique they want to be. We think it’s going to be something that people are happy people to pay for.”

Developers can enable that as a new revenue stream and pay relatively small AI generation costs. Benor showed me a demo where the model, on a laptop, could generate images like dragons playing poker. You can change it on the fly to dragons having a food fight. Developers can put guard rails in that put limits on what the user can create.

The image creation for players seems to be the most popular in multiplayer games, where players can show off the things they create. Over time, the company hopes to let an artist create a single prompt and send it to a few AI models at the same time to see which one builds it best. That costs more as it burns credits for image generation, but it may result in better quality.

The company will have a subscription fee for the tools, and have an image generation credit fee.

“For now, people are using credits,” he said. “It’s attaching a small convenience fee. It’s a like a microtransaction for the player. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.”