Call for Contributions – Competition in ‘virtual worlds’ and generative artificial intelligence
The video games sector is vibrant and competitive, and its development of virtual worlds and its use of AI represent innovations that benefit consumers. These innovations are emerging, with new technologies and business models, and consumer expectations, continually evolving. Against such a background, to the extent a need for regulation is identified, it should be carefully considered, proportionate to the need, and the outcome of extensive engagement with all stakeholders, especially industry, to ensure that new regulatory measures in such nascent areas do not hold back innovation or limit the diversity of technologies and models, which would ultimately be to the disbenefit of consumers. This paper sets this out in more detail, starting with 'virtual worlds' and its relation to video games, followed by a few considerations on generative AI.