I used to love side quests. Sometimes more than the main story.
There was something about stumbling into a weird little side story that made open-world games feel alive—like you weren’t just playing through a pre-written script, but actually discovering something unexpected.
I still remember the Bloody Baron questline in The Witcher 3. What started as a simple “find my missing wife” mission turned into one of the best pieces of storytelling in gaming. Or the random NPCs in Red Dead Redemption 2 who would pull you into their tragic, funny, or sometimes downright disturbing lives.
Those moments mattered because they were written by actual people who cared about telling good stories.
Now? Game studios are replacing side quests with AI-generated content.
And it’s going to ruin everything.
AI Quests Are Infinite—But That’s the Problem
The appeal of AI-generated quests is obvious.
Instead of having a set number of side missions, the game can just keep making more. AI-driven NPCs can create infinite interactions, adapting to your choices, responding dynamically, crafting a unique experience for every player.
It sounds revolutionary—until you realize that infinite content means none of it actually matters.
- A quest is only meaningful if it’s designed to be meaningful—if a writer crafted it with intention, with themes, with an emotional arc. AI can generate a scenario, but it doesn’t understand why a story works.
- AI doesn’t create characters. It creates templates—algorithmically generated NPCs with dialogue that reacts, but doesn’t feel real.
- If side quests are just endless procedural tasks, does anything in the world actually feel important anymore?
Why AI-Generated Side Quests Feel Empty
The best side quests work because they have a point. They tell a story that stays with you.
AI can’t do that.
- It can generate quests that resemble real quests, but they’ll always be formulaic.
- It can create random dialogue, but it won’t ever feel personal.
- It can react to your choices, but it won’t ever make you feel like your choices actually matter.
Because AI doesn’t tell stories—it follows patterns.
It doesn’t understand tragedy, or humor, or irony. It just mimics what it’s been trained on.
And that means AI-generated quests will always feel like filler.
Side Quests Are Already Getting Worse
Even before AI, side quests in open-world games were starting to lose their soul.
Most modern RPGs don’t have side quests anymore—they have checklists.
- Ubisoft games have turned “side quests” into generic, repeatable objectives that all feel the same.
- Bethesda games rely on radiant quest systems—which means the game just keeps generating random tasks indefinitely.
- MMOs and live service games don’t even pretend anymore—side quests are just busywork designed to keep you playing.
AI is just going to make it worse.
Why write 50 handcrafted quests when you can have an AI churn out infinite ones? Why hire writers when an algorithm can generate fetch quests forever?
Does AI Mean the End of Memorable Side Quests?
Not immediately. Some developers will still take the time to write real stories.
But the second AI-generated quests become cheaper, faster, easier than hiring human writers? Studios will use them for everything.
And at that point, open-world games won’t feel like worlds anymore.
They’ll feel like content loops—designed to keep you busy, but never actually invested.
So What Can We Do?
If players keep praising “infinite content” as the future, studios will double down on AI-generated side quests.
The only way to stop this? Support games that actually care about storytelling.
Because a good side quest isn’t just a task. It’s a story. A moment. A memory.
And AI can’t make that. Only real writers can.