Mat Jones used Biddy Blas, a supporting character in Star Wars: Galactic Racer, to make a blunt point: AI could not have made him. In an IGN opinion piece, Jones argues that the weird little crocodile man is the kind of breakout creation that depends on timing, personality, and judgment, not just generated dialogue.
Biddy Blas is described as knee-high to a Tauntaun, with an unresolved rage twelve times his size. Jones calls him the best new thing to happen to Star Wars since Andor, and the piece treats that level of impact as the standard AI keeps missing when it tries to imitate character work.
Galactic Racer and Biddy Blas
Galactic Racer is already framed as a highlight for the under-served genre of arcadey high speed racer, helped by surprisingly in-depth vehicle customisation, heat management and opponent rivalry systems. Biddy Blas sits inside that package as supporting cast, but Jones argues that limited screen time is exactly where the character lands hardest.
The piece goes further and calls Biddy Blas an icon and an example of a Glub Shitto, the kind of figure who is not important enough to carry the narrative but is so arresting that he becomes a favorite anyway. That definition is doing real work here: it explains why a character can matter more than a lead, because memorability comes from shape, voice, and surprise, not just plot weight.
My Perfect Console and Coen
On a recent episode of My Perfect Console, Will de Renzy-Martin said, "the least interesting thing about what I do is the way my voice sounds." That line lands against Jones’s argument because Biddy Blas is praised not just for a ridiculous voice, but for the performance and personality that sit behind it.
Coen made the same business-side point even more directly in the article: "[AI]’s not replicating my personality and the things that I do when I'm in the room, and the choices that I make, which is all the reasons that a director or a producer would want to work with me". He added, "Actors are pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things."
Epic Games and AI first
Epic Games’ apparent push for an AI first production model is part of the backdrop Jones is pushing against, especially because it has reportedly delayed a secret Star Wars and Marvel crossover shooter. The piece says that project will apparently use AI tools on both the coding and art sides, which makes Biddy Blas a pointed counterexample: voice synthesis alone does not produce a character that feels lived-in.
Jones even suggests AI might manage a nonsense Huttese catchphrase. That is the limit case, not the prize. The harder part is the mix of writing, performance, and design that gives Biddy Blas his shape, and the article does not pretend software can solve that by itself.
Coen’s last line sharpens the economics: "And if you end up with an AI that can produce the right noises, you're going to need somebody who can interact with it and get the performance that you want attached to those noises – and they're going to be much more expensive than an actor is." That leaves the reader with the practical takeaway Jones is really making: if a character like Biddy Blas is the benchmark, AI has a long way to go before it can replace the people who actually make game characters stick.
