Mike Cook
@mtrc.bsky.social
AI, creativity and procedural generation researcher. No, not that kind of AI. I write and make games and take photographs of cities. Senior Lecturer at King's College London.
A prototype for a much larger system
http://www.possibilityspace.org | he/they
A prototype for a much larger system
http://www.possibilityspace.org | he/they
Pinned
New Paper: "We Call This Controller Skip: AI For Speedrunning" by me, @mastermilkx.bsky.social, M Awiszus, F Carnovalini, A Dockhorn for #exag25
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
Cosmic Express on the stage at AIIDE 2025! @draknek.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Cosmic Express on the stage at AIIDE 2025! @draknek.bsky.social
And one more last paper: presenting Pixie, a Unity plugin that generalises my approach to procedurally generating game mechanics, so it can work on games it’s never seen before (including yours, maybe!). Open access and paper coming soon 🙂
Next up we have Mike Cook's @mtrc.bsky.social Pixie system which is a Unity plugin that can do mechanic generation in games that real people have actually made! Very cool, and related closely to the last DC in topic!
November 13, 2025 at 8:50 PM
And one more last paper: presenting Pixie, a Unity plugin that generalises my approach to procedurally generating game mechanics, so it can work on games it’s never seen before (including yours, maybe!). Open access and paper coming soon 🙂
This paper is a long time coming and I was so happy to present it today. In it, I argue that designing games and designing procedural generators are one and the same, and that we should share knowledge, tools and solutions - and work towards a new shared vocabulary!
Open access, available soon.
Open access, available soon.
The first paper session of the day is on Mechanics and Design, and we're starting off with a Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social talk arguing that Game Design is Generative Design.
Thinking through the argument here was really compelling, and makes me want to read the paper right this instant!
Thinking through the argument here was really compelling, and makes me want to read the paper right this instant!
November 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
This paper is a long time coming and I was so happy to present it today. In it, I argue that designing games and designing procedural generators are one and the same, and that we should share knowledge, tools and solutions - and work towards a new shared vocabulary!
Open access, available soon.
Open access, available soon.
The AIIDE keynote from take two today was so refreshing, “we’re not here to tell you what to do” suddenly reminded me that ten years ago the industry speakers tended to do the exact opposite haha.
November 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The AIIDE keynote from take two today was so refreshing, “we’re not here to tell you what to do” suddenly reminded me that ten years ago the industry speakers tended to do the exact opposite haha.
just want it on the record, the slides were done 46 minutes before the talk. this does not count as finishing in the session i give the talk in.
November 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
just want it on the record, the slides were done 46 minutes before the talk. this does not count as finishing in the session i give the talk in.
Having a very funny realisation this week which is: I am a games researcher. I think the last couple of years I had begun to think maybe I had to try being other things? Find ways to apply my work to medicine, etc. This week has made that thought so laughable. How could I ever be anything else.
November 13, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Having a very funny realisation this week which is: I am a games researcher. I think the last couple of years I had begun to think maybe I had to try being other things? Find ways to apply my work to medicine, etc. This week has made that thought so laughable. How could I ever be anything else.
explaining that i have made something that 'unleashes creativity' and then moving swiftly on without elaborating
November 12, 2025 at 8:55 PM
explaining that i have made something that 'unleashes creativity' and then moving swiftly on without elaborating
New Paper: "We Call This Controller Skip: AI For Speedrunning" by me, @mastermilkx.bsky.social, M Awiszus, F Carnovalini, A Dockhorn for #exag25
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
November 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
New Paper: "We Call This Controller Skip: AI For Speedrunning" by me, @mastermilkx.bsky.social, M Awiszus, F Carnovalini, A Dockhorn for #exag25
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
ceur-ws.org/Vol-4090/pap...
What is speedrunning? Why is it interesting for AI researchers? What fun, silly, playful things could we make together?
AIIDE has a “test of time” paper award now - for papers from the past that has a long impact. I really love this, it’s something a few other conferences do and I think it’s an excellent way to reflect on the past.
November 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
AIIDE has a “test of time” paper award now - for papers from the past that has a long impact. I really love this, it’s something a few other conferences do and I think it’s an excellent way to reflect on the past.
Reposted by Mike Cook
Continuing the series, I'll be live posting about AIIDE day 1 all day today!
Hello everyone! Welcome to day 1 of AIIDE 2025, starting off with some opening remarks from Seth Cooper and Matthew Guzdial @matthewguz.bsky.social
Just like EXAG/INT, I'll be live posting throughout the presentations throughout AIIDE for those who cannot make it!
Just like EXAG/INT, I'll be live posting throughout the presentations throughout AIIDE for those who cannot make it!
November 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Continuing the series, I'll be live posting about AIIDE day 1 all day today!
Reposted by Mike Cook
The first most important thing you can do to support workers is to listen to them.
They love their work and they want to keep making games, and they deserve a union to make their work safe and sustainable.
Very glad to see People Make Games follow this closely. Staying tuned and in solidarity ✊
They love their work and they want to keep making games, and they deserve a union to make their work safe and sustainable.
Very glad to see People Make Games follow this closely. Staying tuned and in solidarity ✊
I went to meet the 'Rockstar 31', the developers who were suddenly fired from their work on GTA 6 for what the studio has described as gross misconduct.
That's not what the workers call it though. They have another couple of words they prefer to use: union busting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nO...
That's not what the workers call it though. They have another couple of words they prefer to use: union busting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nO...
The Rockstar Workers Fired Before They Could Finish GTA 6
YouTube video by People Make Games
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The first most important thing you can do to support workers is to listen to them.
They love their work and they want to keep making games, and they deserve a union to make their work safe and sustainable.
Very glad to see People Make Games follow this closely. Staying tuned and in solidarity ✊
They love their work and they want to keep making games, and they deserve a union to make their work safe and sustainable.
Very glad to see People Make Games follow this closely. Staying tuned and in solidarity ✊
I didn’t expect this year’s #aiide conference to hit me quite so hard but reconnecting to a community like this after so long is really emotional and uplifting. Phew.
November 12, 2025 at 6:30 AM
I didn’t expect this year’s #aiide conference to hit me quite so hard but reconnecting to a community like this after so long is really emotional and uplifting. Phew.
I truly believe there’s a special place in hell reserved for Geoff, and I bet it has some excellent corporate sponsors.
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
November 11, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I truly believe there’s a special place in hell reserved for Geoff, and I bet it has some excellent corporate sponsors.
The last EXAG talk is about writing a neural network that runs on an original NES. This is a perfect way to finish the workshop. Incredible.
November 11, 2025 at 10:17 PM
The last EXAG talk is about writing a neural network that runs on an original NES. This is a perfect way to finish the workshop. Incredible.
Reposted by Mike Cook
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
What could AI research find in the world of speedrunning? New challenges for our work? Fun new ways to play and enjoy games? Tools to support TAS designers?
We think there’s a lot of fun stuff out there. So we wrote a paper! It’ll be available to read for free very soon.
We think there’s a lot of fun stuff out there. So we wrote a paper! It’ll be available to read for free very soon.
EXAG session 3 is live! We have Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social and M Charity @mastermilkx.bsky.social presenting on AI for Speedrunning: a paper based on a Dagstuhl seminar group on a number of Pico-8 case studies!
November 11, 2025 at 9:28 PM
What could AI research find in the world of speedrunning? New challenges for our work? Fun new ways to play and enjoy games? Tools to support TAS designers?
We think there’s a lot of fun stuff out there. So we wrote a paper! It’ll be available to read for free very soon.
We think there’s a lot of fun stuff out there. So we wrote a paper! It’ll be available to read for free very soon.
“I love conferences, I always feel so energised and excited! It must be all the amazing new ideas.”
*sips fifth free coffee of the morning*
*sips fifth free coffee of the morning*
November 11, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“I love conferences, I always feel so energised and excited! It must be all the amazing new ideas.”
*sips fifth free coffee of the morning*
*sips fifth free coffee of the morning*
I was so so happy to give an invited talk today at EXAG, a workshop I co-founded over ten years ago! It was quite a personal talk about how research communities grow and change (and die sometimes), what generative AI means for our community today, and the value of weird, pointless research.
Starting off Day 2 of EXAG with Mike Cook's @mtrc.bsky.social amazingly titled keynote 'Being Weird at the End of the World'. Really looking forward to this talk!
November 11, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I was so so happy to give an invited talk today at EXAG, a workshop I co-founded over ten years ago! It was quite a personal talk about how research communities grow and change (and die sometimes), what generative AI means for our community today, and the value of weird, pointless research.
Reposted by Mike Cook
My review of ARC Raiders is now live. It's a well designed extraction shooter. But Embark Studios' use of AI voices is indefensible in a game that has benefited so much from human speech. www.eurogamer.net/arc-raiders-...
Arc Raiders review - a smartly designed extraction shooter marred by one inexcusable decision
Rich combat and an unusually friendly community make Arc Raiders an cracking extraction shooter, but Embark Studios' continued use of AI voices is inexcusable.
www.eurogamer.net
November 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
My review of ARC Raiders is now live. It's a well designed extraction shooter. But Embark Studios' use of AI voices is indefensible in a game that has benefited so much from human speech. www.eurogamer.net/arc-raiders-...
Emily is livetweeting all the good stuff this week, do follow her (plus she's doing cool research).
Looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues in Edmonton this week for AIIDE! I'll be trying my hand at live tweeting the paper sessions at both the main conference and EXAG/INT, which I'll try to keep in this big reply thread (starting off tomorrow). @aiide.bsky.social @exag.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Emily is livetweeting all the good stuff this week, do follow her (plus she's doing cool research).
Reposted by Mike Cook
Oh hey, that's me! Very much looking forward to giving this talk at ITU next week!
Friends! On November 19th at 16:00, in Auditorium 3 at the ITU, we are hosting a talk by Florence Smith Nicholls. The talk is titled How to be a video game archaeologist. You can read about it here: digitalplay.itu.dk/event/floren...
How To Be A Video Game Archaeologist - A talk by Florence Smith Nicholls | Center for Digital Play
How To Be A Video Game Archaeologist - A talk by Florence Smith Nicholls
digitalplay.itu.dk
November 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Oh hey, that's me! Very much looking forward to giving this talk at ITU next week!
I’m at AIIDE this week! For the first time in a decade I think? Wild. I’ve got three papers to talk about, and I’ll be taking photos of the city as well, and there’s all sorts happening. I’ll post more about the papers when I am not in an airport. #aiide25
AIIDE '25 proceedings are up! And the conference starts in two days. 🧳✈️
Vol. 21 No. 1 (2025): Twenty-First AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment
| Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Intera...
ojs.aaai.org
November 9, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I’m at AIIDE this week! For the first time in a decade I think? Wild. I’ve got three papers to talk about, and I’ll be taking photos of the city as well, and there’s all sorts happening. I’ll post more about the papers when I am not in an airport. #aiide25
Reposted by Mike Cook
the fear of checking your notifications and not knowing if it's 30+ like 31 or 30+ like the international society of pedantic strangers just reviewed your post at their annual conference
November 9, 2025 at 4:55 AM
the fear of checking your notifications and not knowing if it's 30+ like 31 or 30+ like the international society of pedantic strangers just reviewed your post at their annual conference
Reposted by Mike Cook
derek yu's top ten favorite games (2002) www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoft...
November 9, 2025 at 12:28 AM
derek yu's top ten favorite games (2002) www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoft...