AI May Make Your Game Cheaper. Does It Make Your Studio More Valuable?

Most studios now have an “”AI efficiency”” slide. Almost none can tell you what it does to their valuation — and that’s the number quietly reshaping fundraising, M&A, and exits.

This is a dealmaker’s view of AI and studio value. As generative tools give way to agentic production — AI that runs planning, QA, and whole pipelines, not just makes assets — the cost of building a game may be falling. But cheaper to build doesn’t mean more valuable. Sometimes it means the opposite.

Drawing on live sell-side deals, this talk gives founders and investors a framework for telling durable value from the margin mirage: why most AI savings get competed away, what breaks in diligence when a “”moat”” is just a prompt library, and which side of the table captures the upside. You’ll leave able to see through the AI-efficiency story to what a buyer will actually pay for.

**Key takeaways**

1. A test to separate a durable AI-driven margin from an industry baseline that’s about to reset — value *created* vs. value you actually *keep*.
2. The AI red flags now breaking games M&A — IP provenance, unenforceable content, subsidized-inference margins, prompt-library “”moats”” — and how buyers price each.
3. Which side of the table captures the AI upside — and how to make sure it’s yours.

A part of the PG Connects Stage at MIGS, dedicated to mobile and AI presented by Pocket Gamer.