Activision has finally been forced to confirm that it’s been using AI-generated assets for Call of Duty titles like 2023’s Modern Warfare III and 2024’s Black Ops 6. If you ever find yourself in the strange position of having to determine if something is AI-generated thanks to this post-modern hellscape we’re living in, just pay attention to the fingers. Because for some reason, the most advanced invention of humankind, the sum of its folly and hubris, can’t get human fingers and toes right. Now this advice is especially important if you’re a multi-billion company and want to skimp on crucial marketing assets. Activision Blizzard (now a subsidiary of Microsoft) somehow didn’t get this memo, and so became a laughingstock in the gaming community for using in-game assets and even promo posters that included AI-generated imagery. The talk of Activision using AI-generated content in its games is not just limited to one image. Sure, the zombie Santa Claus from Black Ops 6 (known as Necroclaus) really freaked people out when it originally came out (you can see clear discrepancies in the image; discrepancies that led to people concluding it must be AI-generated) but there are many instances of strange digital artifacts in Call of Duty games. Certain textures that perhaps don’t belong in a particular environment, designs that clash with their immediate area, and other incongruous things to that effect. The “Necroclaus” promo image that is said to be AI-generated / Image via Activision Now, we finally have confirmation that Activision indeed utilizes AI tools for its games. This comes courtesy of Steam’s new policy, which directs all developers to indicate if their game has made use of AI-generated content. Activision must have been forced to comply with this new rule because if you go to the Steam page for Black Ops 6, there’s a new AI disclaimer. The AI disclaimer under ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ “Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets.” Not exactly the damning explanation we were all looking for, but it’s enough to paint a grim picture for the future of the industry. Not that the use of AI is unprecedented in game development, but it’s strange to think a company as big as Activision, working on one of the biggest franchises in entertainment history across all mediums and with thousands of employees at its beck and call and billions of dollars of development budget every year, can’t afford to hire professional graphic designers or even programmers. Of course, we all know that it’s not a matter of resources or capability, but unwillingness. A choice to cut costs and maximize profits, as big corporations are wont to do these days. AI could do a lot to streamline the arduous development cycle of triple-A games, now taking a standard 5 to 6 years from start to finish, yet that’s not how big corporations will see it. We have, after all, borne witness to the same phenomenon in the movie industry, where, instead of using AI tools to enhance the work people are already doing, greedy corporate moguls just replace the human labor force and delegate their work to AI and AI prompt writers. The end result, some might say, is a tale as old as time.