Published Jul 13, 2026
What did you read over the weekend?
One of our colleagues went with the new epic from Yann Martel, "Son of Nobody" — a good pick if you can't wait for "The Odyssey" movie. But we talk about business and games here, so here is an interesting point from reading the GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 Trends Report on AI companions.
AI companions in games in general are quite a hype right now, so it is not surprising that the GDC report calls companionship the "bigger goal" of agentic AI. There are a variety of use cases from one-off NPCs that respond to players in real time to longstanding teammates with their own memory and personalities.
The most interesting part is one of the reasons why players would want a companion. The argument in the report is not technical, it is social. Solo players who face harassment in online spaces can get a "multiplayer" experience with a teammate that will never flame them after a lost round. So an AI companion becomes a way to make games comfortable for more people.
And this is very close to how we at Tryll think about AI in games. The engagement and fun that it brings is obvious. But it is also a way to open up games to more people. So great to see this direction also got traction in the GDC report.
Drop a line in comments: what other use-cases of AI in games could increase accessibility?
Image credit: GDC Festival of Gaming.