The AI Paradox: Razer CEO Says Gamers Already Love the Tech—They Just Don't Know It Yet

Razer chief executive Min-Liang Tan has defended the company's heavy investment in artificial intelligence, arguing that gamers' hostility towards the technology stems from poor implementation rather than opposition to AI itself. Speaking on The Decoder podcast in an episode taped during this year's CES, Tan insisted that well-designed AI tools could ultimately lead to better games, even if players do not yet realise it.

Razer recently announced plans to invest $600 million in AI over the next few years, alongside hiring around 150 AI engineers. The move has drawn sharp criticism from parts of the gaming community, with many players and developers voicing fears that creativity will be replaced, jobs will be lost, and games will be flooded with low-quality, AI-generated content.

'Gamers Hate AI Slop'

Tan acknowledged the backlash, saying he understood why gamers are frustrated. From his perspective, the anger is not aimed at AI as a concept, but at what he described as 'generative AI slop'.

'As gamers, we want to be engaged and immersed,' Tan said. 'We don't want shoddily written storylines or character models with extra fingers.' He argued that rushed, poorly supervised generative AI has already damaged trust, reinforcing fears that technology is being used to cut corners rather than improve quality.

In that sense, Tan said he shared many of the same concerns as vocal critics online. He also noted secondary frustrations, including AI's impact on hardware costs, particularly memory prices, drawing parallels with the period when cryptocurrency mining drove GPU shortages.

AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

Despite the criticism, Tan was clear that Razer's strategy is not about replacing human creativity. Instead, he framed AI as an assistive tool designed to support developers rather than automate them out of a job.

Central to this vision is Razer's work on a QA companion, an AI system designed to work alongside human quality assurance testers. According to him, QA can account for 30 to 40 per cent of a game's development cost and is often a major cause of delays.

The AI companion automates administrative tasks, such as filling out bug reports and categorising issues in systems like Jira, allowing testers to focus on identifying problems, while developers receive clearer, faster feedback. He argued that this kind of application benefits everyone: studios save time and money, and players get more polished games.

Bridging the Perception Gap

During the interview, Tan was challenged on Razer's broad CES slogan, 'AI is the future of gaming', which some critics see as vague or misleading. He conceded that the phrase is intentionally wide-ranging, but said it reflects the company's ecosystem approach across hardware, software and services.

On the consumer side, Razer has showcased products such as Project Ava and AI-enabled audio technology like Motoko, positioning AI as an enhancement rather than a replacement. Tan described these developments as incremental rather than revolutionary from a hardware standpoint, but said they have captured imaginations by making AI portable and practical.

From a software and services perspective, he emphasised close collaboration with developers and publishers, using AI to improve workflows rather than dictate creative outcomes.

Scepticism and Early-Stage Reality

Tan was also pressed on the gap between AI's promises and its current performance, noting that many consumer AI products fail to deliver on their marketing. He admitted the technology is still in its early stages and that outcomes remain uncertain.

'It could completely go off the rails,' he said, acknowledging both the risks and the hype. However, he maintained that AI already shows clear value in areas like software development, and that gaming tools could follow a similar trajectory.

Betting on Better Games

Ultimately, he argued that most gamers want the same thing: better, more engaging games. If AI can help developers achieve that through improved testing, fewer bugs and smoother launches, he believes resistance will soften over time.

Whether that optimism proves justified remains to be seen. For now, Razer's bold bet on AI places it at the centre of one of gaming's most divisive debates, with players watching closely to see whether the technology delivers genuine improvements or simply adds to the noise.