Google just dropped Project Genie, an experimental AI tool that generates playable 3D game worlds from text prompts, and The Verge got early access. The tool, built on Google DeepMind's Genie 3 world model, is rolling out today to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US. It's the first public test of technology that could reshape everything from filmmaking to robotics, though right now it's best at creating janky Super Mario and Zelda clones that barely work.
Google DeepMind is letting people play with fire. The company's new Project Genie tool generates interactive 3D game worlds from simple prompts, and early testers immediately started recreating Nintendo franchises. The results are messy, laggy, and sometimes hilarious, but they point to where AI-generated interactive media might be heading.
Project Genie builds on the Genie 3 model that Google announced last year, previously available only as a limited research preview. Starting today, Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US can access the experimental prototype through a new interface. You type a prompt describing an environment and character, wait a few moments, and Genie generates a thumbnail preview before rendering a full explorable world.
Each generated experience lasts exactly 60 seconds, runs at roughly 720p resolution and 24 frames per second, and responds to WASD movement controls plus spacebar jumps. In theory, anyway. In practice, The Verge's early testing revealed significant technical limitations that make the experiences feel more like tech demos than actual games.
"It's really for us to actually learn about new use cases that we hadn't thought about," Diego Rivas, a product manager at Google DeepMind, told The Verge. The company envisions applications beyond gaming: visualizing film scenes, creating interactive educational content, even helping robots navigate physical spaces. Parents could photograph their kid's favorite toy and generate a custom world around it.
