336. Why Most Game Engines Die, and How AI Builds "Living Worlds"

Andrew Bowell, CEO of Iconic, who spent 15 years at Havok and a decade at Unity, discusses the future of game development, AI integration, and the challenges of building new game engines. He shares insights on technological shifts, AI's role in creating immersive worlds, and why his company is building an engine to “craft intelligent, living worlds”.https://iconicgames.io/02:10— The shift toward dynamic, emergent, personalized gameplay04:39— Why Iconic won’t end up in the “engine graveyard”10:13— “Intelligent living worlds” explained16:12— Dogfooding and building the engine through its own game19:35— Deterministic vs open-ended gameplay23:11— What Unity got right about AI26:52— The real paradigm shift in gaming37:59— Player-first, not technology-first46:26— Where AI adoption in games stops today51:56— Remote vs hybrid culture at Iconic