GamesFPSCall of DutyBleak report alleges that Activision already has an AI-generated cosmetic in Call of Duty—with artists reportedly ‘forced to use AI to aid in their work’ and pushed into outsourcingWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFPSCall of DutyBleak report alleges that Activision already has an AI-generated cosmetic in Call of Duty—with artists reportedly ‘forced to use AI to aid in their work’ and pushed into outsourcingWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Activision)
Naturally, you can only buy 2,000, not 1,500, points from the store for $19.99, but some quick napkin maths places the skin’s ‘value’ at around $15.00. It’s probably just confirmation bias, but my eyebrow raises all the way off my head at thisloading screenincluded in the bundle—not just because of the glossy photorealism and bizarre studio lighting (in a burning building, somehow) but because the loading screen itself doesn’t appear to relate to the 3D skin in any way beyond being a demon mask—the art featured therein isn’t the same design at all.
“A lot of 2D artists were laid off” at Activision in 2023, Noah remarks, before alleging that those who remained were “forced to use AI to aid in their work”. The report then goes on to state that mandatory sign-ups for AI training are commonplace. Despite this, however, Noah says Activision has already “started outsourcing lots of 3D art assets, almost all of the art”, with the team itself struggling to meet new deadlines with their post-layoff numbers. “In-house art couldn’t keep up.”
“You’ll probably never see which part is using AI in what, but you know it’s there.”
It’s not necessarily all doom and gloom, though—Blizzard islimiting itself to in-house tools, and its employees recently formed aunion 500 people strong, hopefully protecting them against similar tactics. Like a lot of new inventions, generative AI certainly has its uses, handling senseless grunt work or tackling areas where automation is pointless. Weaponized as a sort of advanced procedural generation, the tech seems to be both useful and mostly harmless—of course, it’s not being wielded in that way. As Violet herself puts it: “AI isn’t bad in and of itself, it’s bad when the end goal is to maximise profits.”
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