Activision and the development team behind Call of Duty have confirmed what may have been speculated on for months: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone contain AI-generated content, Windows Central reported.
During Black Ops 6’s Season 1, “Merry Mayhem” event, players spotted a loading screen that featured a zombie Santa with six fingers — a hallmark characteristic of AI-generated content. With a little digging, more in-game cosmetics, including loading screens, weapon decals, and player cards that were handed out as rewards and purchased as part of bundles found in the game store were likely AI-generated, as well.
At the time, Activision remained silent on the potential use of generative AI in Call of Duty, even as player backlash grew louder. Users on Reddit went so far as to express frustration for being fed “AI Slop” in a full-price AAA title that is rampant with battle passes, event passes, and microtransactions for cosmetics.
AI-generated content wasn’t just showing up in-game rewards. Social media posts for the holidays from Infinity Ward and trey arch were both marred with generative AI. Similarly, job posting from Activision have shown the publisher and its studios were on the hunt for talent with generative AI skills.
Game Developer reported: Activision has come under fire after admitting generative AI tools were used to produce some in-game assets or Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
The news was shared by way of a disclosure added to the title’s Steam page and has resulted in a flurry of negative reviews from players on the platform.
“Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets,” explained Activision in the brief disclaimer.
The Steam page was updated after Valve began requiring developers to describe how they are using AI in the development of their games so it can list that information on store pages.
Valve rolled out that mandate in January and said it would help customers understand how studios are using the technology.
The vague wording of Activision’s admission means it’s currently unclear which specific assets were created using generative AI.
Kotaku reported: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players have been accusing various loading screens and calling cards from the game being AI-generated since it came out last fall, but it was only ever based on vibes and the occasional very convincing piece of seemingly obvious AI slop. Now, Activision has admitted to using AI-generated assets in the hit multiplayer shooter on its Steam page.
The developers describe how their game uses AI generated content like this: “Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets,” reads the disclosure on Valve’s storefront, recently spotted by CharlieIntel.
While it doesn’t elaborate any further on which assets are made with AI and how, the confession has reaffirmed what some fans had been claiming for months.