Call of Duty Confirms Use of Generative AI for Some Content

Call of Duty publisher Activision has officially confirmed that it uses generative AI to make in-game content. There’s a growing concern over the use of generative AI in all industries right now, but particularly creative ones. Anytime AI is brought up, it can cause a kneejerk reaction and lead to controversy. Oscar-nominated film The Brutalist used AI to help smooth out accents in some performances which caused controversy, but the key distinction was that it’s not generative AI. Generative AI essentially learns from existing media and then spits out something “new”, which some have felt lacks any actual creativity and is used as a replacement for talent or skill.

There are some AI tools that have been used for quite some time now in the creative process and do possess some value, but many are understandably skeptical of any usage of it. Particularly in gaming, AI or technology close to AI like procedural generation has helped streamline game development and make the overall process better as games get more advanced. Some games including Call of Duty also use AI to moderate online players as well, which flags players for a manual human review. However, a lot of studios and spectators have drawn the line over the usage of generative AI over fears that it would replace developers and simultaneously lead to worse products. However, it hasn’t stopped some developers from dabbling in the tool, leading to lots of controversy.

Call of Duty Confirms Usage of Generative AI

Since last year, Call of Duty has been accused of using AI to make in-game such as skins, calling cards, loading screens, and more. Prior to the week of February 23rd, Activision hadn’t disclosed any of this AI content to the public, much to the frustration of players. Now, on the Call of Duty Steam page (via CharlieIntel), there is a discloser as mandated by Valve that confirms the popular FPS uses generative AI. However, Activision did not specify exactly what content was created by generative AI, leaving some players in the dark as to what may or may not have been created by an actual developer.

“Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets,” reads the brief disclaimer.

It had previously been pointed out on Reddit that Call of Duty had avoided including this disclaimer, despite it being a requirement by Valve for Steam games. It’s possible that Valve spoke to Activision about this or perhaps it signals that even more AI generated content is coming to Call of Duty, which would make it hard for Activision to avoid addressing. Either way, it is now a fact that Call of Duty uses generative AI. Whether or not this will lead to any players quitting the game remains to be seen, but there are plenty of people who take strong stances against this kind of content in gaming.

At the end of 2024, Call of Duty recast actors for the game’s Zombies mode. The original actors were taking part in the SAG-Aftra gaming strike, which was protesting against studios in order to have better working conditions and get studios to avoid using AI for performances. However, Black Ops 6 was not one of the struck games, so it’s possible that the original actors chose not to sign new contracts for future content in solidarity of other actors who were striking.

The new disclosure comes as Call of Duty hits the mid-point for season 2. It’s heavily rumored that season 3 will see the return of the original Warzone map Verdansk. Although rumors have indicated that it will largely be the same as the original version of the map, this new disclosure sparks some concerns that there will be AI generated assets in the re-release of the battle royale map. With that said, there has been no indication that generative AI has been used in the upcoming release of Verdansk.