Adjusting to AI
We know how it goes…
…multiplayer games used to be pretty honest about what they were doing. You join a match, spawn into a map you’ve seen a hundred times, run the same routes, use the same loadouts, same strategies, and slowly accept that there is one correct way to play, even if the game pretends otherwise. Somewhere along the way, you either master the meta or get farmed by someone who already has. Very fair. Very fun. Very…predictable.
AI is here to ruin that predictability — and honestly, it’s about time.
For most of multiplayer gaming history, AI existed, but it almost never participated in the multiplayer experience in a meaningful, visible way. In classic multiplayer shooters and co-op games, enemies ran on behavior trees or finite state machines. If seen, then attack. If hit, then start a 3 second shock. If you are in low health, then RUN!
To prove it’s been under your nose all this time, ever noticed Fortnite has been using AI in their games since 2019? New or struggling players aren’t just matched with easier opponents: they’re often placed into lobbies populated partly by AI-controlled players that behave almost like humans. The goal isn’t to trick you; it’s to smooth the learning curve so you don’t quit after getting wiped in your first three matches.
…and this is about all the AI the gaming world has experienced until late 2025.
Now imagine a multiplayer game that actually pays attention. Not in a creepy way (okay, maybe a little creepy), but in a “hey, I see what you’re doing there, and I’m going to adapt so that your gameplay becomes more diverse,” way.
This isn’t structured like my other blog posts, where I expose games for their cut-corners.
Because when it comes to the gap between indie games and large corporations’ enterprises, there’s something to learn about how gaming companies are investing a hand sweating, jaw dropping 3.1 Billion in AI tools in software development stages.
(yeah, even I had to take a triple check at that number...)There’s something that the gaming industry sees that nobody is talking about…
That’s the AI multiplayer shift. AI is becoming a key factor in Game Development and user engagement, and I’m here to put player and developers alike, ahead of the curve.
Case Studies
Valve
Valve has begun integrating behavior-pattern analysis into competitive matchmaking systems, especially in CS-style environments. These systems don’t just track wins and losses; they analyze movement patterns, reaction consistency, and decision timing to predict skill growth and volatility. The result is matchmaking that adapts faster than traditional rank systems — and in some cases adjusts mid-season without visible rule changes. Think of our previous Fortnite example except more distinct and advanced.
Ubisoft
In 2025, Ubisoft publicly demonstrated AI-driven playtesting and live balancing systems being used across multiplayer projects, where AI agents simulate thousands of matches to identify dominant strategies before players ever touch the game. Instead of waiting for the community to break the meta, the system flags problem strategies early and adjusts values dynamically. That’s not AI just organizing lobbies and being “weak players to kill for new starters” — we are witnessing AI understanding gameplay patterns and helping developers iterate faster to benefit user satisfaction.
What is the AI being used for, precisely?
AI’s influence on matchmaking goes far beyond making players happier. New modeling techniques can now predict player behavior more accurately than human designers ever could — and that has serious implications for how multiplayer worlds evolve.
What’s interesting is that AI is being implemented in a field of game development that is faulty in and of itself (matchmaking) — showing AI’s armlength for positive impact in an industry who may need AI help the most! On Reddit, some players describe matchmaking as matching them with opponents who play “like their life depends on it,” making casual games feel overly competitive and less enjoyable for everyday play. Others say matchmaking and connection balancing have “taken all the fun out of the game,” with matches feeling like extreme stomps either way. These comments suggest players want a different multiplayer experience in 2026 (Reddit Source Here).
With AI, matchmaking will depend on various factors that human-led models hadn’t implemented until now, such as real-time playstyle prediction, behavior pattern analysis, and dynamic team balancing. A great example of this shift is advanced AI-powered analytics being used in games like Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, where the systems don’t just match players by raw skill level but learn from weapon choices, playstyle preferences, and real outcomes to create lobbies that feel more balanced and cohesive overall — aiming to improve retention and satisfaction rather than simply sort by rank (Source: How AI is transforming gaming experiences).
Another area where AI is reshaping the player experience is through AI-powered companions in multiplayer shooters. PUBG is rolling out a feature called “PUBG Ally,” powered by NVIDIA’s ACE technology, which introduces AI squadmates that listen, loot, fight, and communicate much like real players. I love seeing how companies are dedicating their resources (basically their massive revenue and sponsorships) to smoothing the experience for solo or new players so they can enjoy cooperative play even without a regular team, helping reduce frustration and boosting accessibility in hectic battle environments (Source: PUBG adds AI squad-mates that listen, loot, and fight like real players), instead of spending money on the usual “map updates,” or, “campaigns.”
Instead of pigeonholing players into “strict rank buckets,” AI now looks at how you play, how others play around you, and what makes matches feel fun, and it uses that live data to adjust systems, which would make much more dedication for human designers alone to do.
After all, in the first quarter of 2025, the gaming industry recorded about $7.8 billion in investment activity, with $3.1 billion of that going directly into AI-related gaming companies and tech across 32 deals. These investments were centered on tools for game design, NPC behavior systems, procedural content generation, and analytics that developers are actively using today rather than just exploring in theory.
(source: Gaming Investments Hit $7.8 Billion in Q1 2025)
What does this AI shift mean for you?
For the Devs
If you're a developer who wants to stay ahead, start thinking less about shipping isolated "features" and more about designing responses. AI really shines when it's being used to answer questions that humans are too slow to answer at scale. What happens when one strategy dominates too hard across millions of matches? How fast can the system detect that new players are dying too quickly during their first few games? How do you protect beginners without turning experienced players into babysitters? Use AI to get the information you need, and use your expertise to fix those problems.
We already see studios experimenting with AI models analyzing movement patterns, engagement drop-offs, spikes in specific weapons usage, quit timing-to flag unhealthy patterns early. Rather than waiting for Reddit to blow up or a balance patch weeks later, AI understands why something is frustrating, and where developers can fix it: a matchmaking bracket that pairs incompatible playstyles. The devs who will stay ahead in 2026 are the ones building systems that can listen continuously and respond incrementally rather than reacting in big, disruptive swings (map changing to increase player diversification).
If you want more on how to nudge your players in the right direction, check out my Verdansk Blog post, where I correct were Activision could have avoided it’s most obvious problems and complaints to create an engaging experience.
I see you, multiplayer soldiers…
…the shift toward AI is going to be much sneakier for you, and much more personalized. Mastery is slowly moving away from memorizing fixed builds, routes, or “best” strategies (yes, searching up ‘the best strategy to win…’ won’t work anymore), because those are exactly the things adaptive systems are designed to notice and counter. Instead, the edge comes from awareness. Paying attention to how the game reacts to you becomes part of the skill set.
If you notice that a familiar route suddenly feels riskier, or that enemies start appearing in places they didn’t before, that’s not random — it’s the system responding to your repeated behavior. Flexibility becomes an advantage. Actually, Pattern Recognition will become more useful, players who can read patterns, adjust pacing, and reposition quickly will outperform players who stubbornly repeat the same strategy every match.
Blanket Fort Boss out!
