Activision reportedly sold AI-generated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 cosmetics

Activision has reportedly used generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create in-game cosmetics for its latest Call of Duty title, making them available for purchase in late 2023. The Call of Duty maker reportedly approved the use of generative AI tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion to help create concept art for its games early last year. In July, the company was granted access to OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model and greenlit broader AI use to generate concept art, marketing materials and more.

The revelations are part of a broad-based Wired research about the increasing presence of generative AI in video game development, which has reportedly led to the loss of several jobs in the sector.

According to the report, after approving the use of generative AI in game development last year, Activision told its artists that AI tools would only be used to create internal concepts for its titles and not for “final game assets.” However, by the end of 2023, the company will reportedly make AI-generated cosmetics for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 available for purchase on the game’s online store.

While the report doesn’t go into specifics about the AI ​​used to create the cosmetics, it does include a link to the in-game item that is still available in the Call of Duty store. The AI-generated cosmetics, according to the report, are the Yokai’s Wrath Bundlewhich includes a player skin, a firearm blueprint, a calling card, a sticker, and a loading screenshot. The items, which will be released in December 2023, will cost 1,500 COD Points in the store — the in-game virtual currency is about $15, or roughly Rs. 1,255.

In addition to assurances about the limited use of generative AI, Activision had also told its artists that the adoption of AI would not result in the loss of actual human jobs, the report said. However, after the AI-generated Call of Duty cosmetics hit store shelves in December, Microsoft announced it would cut 1,900 jobs at its newly acquired Activision-Blizzard and Xbox divisions. One of the teams affected by the layoffs was a team of 2D artists, the report said.

“Many 2D artists were laid off,” the report quoted an anonymous Activision artist as saying. “The remaining concept artists were then forced to use AI to support their work,” they added. Activision staff were also asked to sign up for AI training, the report said.

In January, Microsoft said it was laying off 1,900 workers at Activision-Blizzard and Xbox, with the layoffs representing about eight percent of its Microsoft Gaming division. Most of the layoffs reportedly occurred at Activision-Blizzard, which Microsoft acquired last year after a lengthy lawsuit with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

This was followed by layoffs at Sony’s PlayStation division, Electronic Arts, Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two and several other studios.

AI has found its way into the public consciousness and has been widely adopted across the tech sector since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. The technology has also come into conflict with creatives and artists, with AI companies facing criticism and lawsuits for the unlicensed use of content such as online articles, music, art, movies and more to allegedly train their models.

The video game industry has also found it hard to resist the use of AI in game development, with several major studios expressing interest in the technology. Earlier this year in April, it was reported that Microsoft was testing a dedicated AI-powered chatbot for its Xbox platform. In November of last year, the Xbox parent company announced that it had partnered with Inworld AI to create game development tools for Xbox, allowing developers to create characters and generate full scripts and quests for games.

Last month, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot touted the potential use cases of generative AI in video game development in an interview on the company’s website. “I’ve also spoken very openly about the potential that I see in generative AI and how it can enrich NPCs to be more intelligent and interactive,” Guillemot said. “This could potentially extend to animals in the world, to the world itself.”