Ask HN: Why isn't AI spawning profitable indie games?
Everyone’s hyped about Claude Code, Nano Banana models, and how AI can now “build a game in 30 minutes for $ 20.”
If that’s true—why don’t we see a flood of ultra-low-cost, high-quality tower defense games (like Kingdom Rush) built with AI, raking in serious revenue?
After all:
Art? → Image generators + style locking.
Code? → LLMs can scaffold Unity/Godot logic.
Balancing? → Maybe RL or even manual tuning on a tiny scope.
Audio? → AI voice + music tools exist.
And yet… the App Store isn’t overrun with polished, profitable Kingdom Rush–style games made by solo devs using AI. Why?
P.S. Yes, this post was AI-generated—my first attempt at market research before launching Kingdom Rush: Nano Banana Edition.
If that’s true—why don’t we see a flood of ultra-low-cost, high-quality tower defense games (like Kingdom Rush) built with AI, raking in serious revenue?
After all:
Art? → Image generators + style locking. Code? → LLMs can scaffold Unity/Godot logic. Balancing? → Maybe RL or even manual tuning on a tiny scope. Audio? → AI voice + music tools exist.
And yet… the App Store isn’t overrun with polished, profitable Kingdom Rush–style games made by solo devs using AI. Why?
P.S. Yes, this post was AI-generated—my first attempt at market research before launching Kingdom Rush: Nano Banana Edition.