Activision accused of using AI skins in Modern Warfare 3
The creative stand against artificial intelligence has seen Hollywood grind to a halt, with fears that the trend is phasing out creative jobs.
While the writer strikes (WGA) in Hollywood pressed pause on an abundance of films, the gaming industry firmly fixed on fast-forwards throughout 2023, which was one of the biggest years in recent gaming history.
With the industry warping at 2x speed, AI has crept into game development, and despite backlash, it's now being reported that Activision has started using coding programmes to create cosmetics for Call of Duty.
Activision reportedly used AI for MW3 Operator skins
Click to enlargeAccording to a report from WIRED, Activision has used AI in its cosmetics for Call of Duty this year, starting with Modern Warfare 3.
WIRED pinpoints the Yokai's Wrath bundle as the first cosmetic range to have AI-generated content within it. Still, the report doesn't specify whether it was used to create the Operator skin or weapon Blueprint, or whether it was for lesser cosmetics like the calling card or loading screen.
The entire bundle was sold for $15 (1,500 CP) in December, while Activision laid off 1,900 staff in January 2024. WIRED claimed AI tools like Chat GPT-3.5, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion were being used by Activision.
Activision reportedly forced artists to use AI amid layoffs
The second half of the WIRED report touches on the war between AI and human input, as Activision's layoffs came just one month before the reported implementation of AI in its games in 2023.
The report claims that many 2D artists were made redundant in the mass Activision layoffs, and the remaining concept artists "were then forced to use AI to aid in their work," the anonymous source said.
Activision first spoke about its usage of AI in projects like Guitar Hero after the then-CEO Bobby Kotick doubled down on its usage by saying, "I think with AI and some of the new technologies that we could employ I think we could create a really compelling new Guitar Hero," in an interview with Variety.
It's not sure whether the Yokai's Wrath bundle is the extent of the AI work in Modern Warfare 3, or whether many bundles have also included generated content since.
