Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa says he sees generative AI as a useful tool for productivity but has no interest in letting it write stories for him. In a September interview with Dengeki Online, Niikawa explained that he could use AI for limited tasks such as suggesting character or title names and researching information, but wants to keep the actual writing process in human hands.
Niikawa’s comments came during an interview focused on how creators should approach AI as the technology becomes more common across game development. He said his position is that AI can be used where it improves productivity, while copyright infringement and other illegal uses should remain off-limits. He described AI as a tool rather than a threat, but drew a clear distinction between using it as an assistant and handing creative decisions over to it.
The Disgaea creator specifically questioned the appeal of giving an AI a basic plot and asking it to finish the story. He said that approach might be useful for mass production, but producing large quantities of content is not his goal. Instead, he wants to create the stories and characters he personally wants to see, and said that shaping the work himself, including choosing each word, is part of what makes the process enjoyable.
That philosophy also extends to how he would use AI to select ideas. Niikawa said he would not ask an AI to produce a list of stories that might sell well and then choose one of those concepts to develop. His preference is to select themes that interest him personally and write them himself, making the creative process a matter of personal choice rather than optimizing for a predicted commercial result.
Niikawa does not reject AI across every part of development. He said he could see practical uses such as generating possible character names, suggesting titles or acting as an assistant for research. His comments therefore distinguish between AI-assisted production work and the creative authorship of a story, with the latter remaining something he does not want to delegate.
The position is particularly relevant as game developers continue experimenting with AI across writing, programming, art and other production tasks. Niikawa argued that younger creators should focus on the ability to make concepts and game experiences that resonate with people, along with the judgment needed to determine which AI-generated options are actually useful. He described those abilities as important even in a development environment where AI can increasingly help turn ideas into finished material.
Niikawa is currently working on several projects through his company SuperNiche, including Demons’ Night Fever, a simulation RPG scheduled for October 22, 2026. He also continues to write under the name Roman Kitayama, following his work on projects including Etrange Overlord. His comments on AI therefore come from a creator who remains actively involved in both game production and writing rather than from a discussion of a completed older project.
The broader industry debate has produced different approaches to AI-assisted development. For example, [[LINK|[https://www.techtroduce.com/level-5-generative-ai-showcase-apology/|Level-5’s recent generative AI controversy]] involved the studio’s use of AI in a game showcase, followed by an apology from CEO Akihiro Hino while he continued to describe AI as a development tool. Niikawa’s comments instead center on where he personally draws the line between assistance and authorship.
For Niikawa, that line currently remains firmly around the story itself. He sees practical value in AI for supporting work around a project, but says the act of deciding what story to tell and how to tell it remains central to his own creative process. His comments offer another perspective in the ongoing discussion over how much of game development creators are willing to delegate to increasingly capable AI systems.
