How AI Could Bring Halo and Other Classic Games Back to Life

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

November 12, 2026

Duration

46m

Channel

a16z

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

AI is collapsing the distance between an idea and a playable game. What happens when almost anyone can build one? In this episode, a16z General Partners Anish Acharya and Jonathan Lai discuss how AI is changing game development, from generating art and code to operating tools like Blender and game engines directly. They explain why cheaper development could let studios take more creative risks while opening game creation to people without traditional coding or design skills. They also explore modding, remixing existing games, and the emergence of AI-native experiences that generate characters, abilities, and storylines on the fly, potentially creating games that never really end. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:57 How AI Can Now Build a Game 6:21 What Shorter Dev Cycles Unlock 10:08 Can AI Make a Game Fun? 12:27 When Creating Is the Game 14:01 Building a Habbo Hotel Record Shop 16:16 His Son Rebuilt Ghost of Tsushima in Minecraft 17:54 Mods: Where Billion-Dollar Franchises Come From 20:36 Decompiling and Reviving Dead Games 22:45 The Renaissance of Niche Genres 25:51 Managing AI Agents Like an RTS Game 28:02 The Business of AI Games 33:53 What Excites and Scares Studios 35:16 The Never-Ending Game 37:56 The Games They'd Finally Build Resources: Follow Anish Acharya on X: https://x.com/illscience Follow Jonathan Lai on X: https://x.com/Tocelot Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Jonathan Lai

  guest

  a16z investor focused on AI and software, discussing agentic tools and AI-driven game creation.

• Anish Acharya

  guest

  a16z investor focused on emerging technology and AI, discussing AI-assisted game development and ecosystems.

• Erik Torenberg

  host

  podcast host at a16z who moderates and guides conversations on technology and startups.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Jonathan Lai and Anish Acharya, How AI Could Bring Halo and Other Classic Games Back to Life explores AI tool-using agents reshape game creation, modding, and revived classics The speakers argue that recent AI advances—especially models that can directly use tools like Blender/Unreal/Unity—make it possible for non-professionals to generate surprisingly complete game prototypes end-to-end, including some self-QA.

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