Character AI, a startup that lets users chat with different AI-powered characters, is now testing games on its desktop and mobile web apps to increase engagement on its platform.
The games are available to Character AI’s paid subscribers and a limited set of users on the free plan. For this initial release, the company developed two games, Speakeasy and War of Words.
Users who have access to the games can go to any of the characters they are chatting with in the browser and tap on the new controller icon. Users can then play the games with the existing characters. The app shows a pop-up to users to start a new chat for games so their previous conversation with that character stays the same.
In Speakeasy, users have to get the chatbot to say a particular word without using five listed words. For instance, if you have to make the bot say “croissant” without using listed words like pastry, butter, bake, French, and flaky.
In War of Words, users have to duel with the character, and an AI referee decides who won a particular round over five rounds.
Character AI said that this is the company’s way of making the service more entertaining.
“Our goal as an AI entertainment company is to find ways to make the Character AI experience even more fun and entertaining. We’re currently testing a feature that allows gameplay with your favorite Characters, all while keeping the immersive experience users love,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Users already have their own characters for text-based games like this Space Adventure Game. However, the company is trying to bring its own games to the platform, too.
Character AI has gone through personnel changes at the top after co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas left for Google. The company hired a YouTube exec as the chief product officer, and Dominic Perella, who was the general counsel to the company, became the interim CEO.
In December, Perella told TechCrunch that Character AI positions itself as an entertainment company. The introduction of games is a step that further reinforces that image.
“While there are companies in the space that are focused on connecting people to AI companions, that’s not what we are going for at Character AI. What we want to do is really create a much more wholesome entertainment platform. And so, as we grow and as we sort of push toward that goal of having people creating stories, sharing stories on our platform, we need to evolve our safety practices to be first class,” he said.
Platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Netflix have used games to increase engagement on their platforms. Character AI is possibly taking the same route to have users spend more time on the platform. According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, Character AI users spend 98 minutes per day on the app.
Last year, the company added new safety tools for teens, including more prominent labels on AI characters notifying users that these are not real people after the company was part of multiple lawsuits. The startup also added a time-out notification for when a user is on the app for 60 minutes at a time.
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