Editor's take: You might think the incidents would send a message to studios: no matter how much money or time is saved by using AI-generated assets in games, it's not worth the bad publicity. But it's a lesson that Activision, Ubisoft, Arrowhead, and others seem likely to ignore, despite Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Anno 117: Pax Romana, and Arc Raiders being slammed by players for featuring content created with GenAI.
After Steam announced a new policy in January 2025 mandating that developers disclose any use of AI within their games, a disclaimer appeared on CoD Black Ops 6's Steam page confirming the technology's use – the six-fingered zombie Santa Claus was a bit of a giveaway.
Despite the backlash from players at the time, the same disclosure appears on Black Ops 7's page.
Credit: @charlieINTEL
Most people believe that AI has been used to produce some of the calling cards awarded when completing challenges in the new co-op campaign. The most glaring ones use a distinctive Studio Ghibli art style that the entire internet seemed obsessed with when ChatGPT updated its image generator in March.
Other calling cards have a distinct air of AI about them, too.
So these calling cards are DEFINITELY AI generated right?
byu/Zardknight inCODBlackOps7
Activision was unrepentant in its use of the controversial technology. "Like so many around the world, we use a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players," a spokesperson said, seemingly emphasizing people's ingratitude. "Our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios."
While Activision has history in this area, is was surprising to see the same issue appear in Anno 117: Pax Romana, which also has the AI disclaimer on Steam and is receiving plenty of negative reviews for this fact alone.
The follow-up to the excellent and artistically beautiful Anno 1880 was criticized for a background image that appears during a loading scene. It has that very AI-generated look, including the typical blurred, melty faces in the background and weird limbs.
Unlike Activision, Ubisoft is actively addressing the matter. The company said in a statement that the image in question "unintentionally slipped through" its review process. The AI asset is being replaced by a new image (below) in an upcoming patch. However, Ubisoft did say that Anno's artists do "use AI tools for iterations, prototyping, and exploration" to help meet the game's "unique scope."
Finally, there's Arc Raiders. The game's use of AI voice generation has made a lot of headlines in the wake of Eurogamer's review, which it called an "inexcusable decision" and major factor in its 2/5 score.
In an interview on The Game Business Show, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani had this to say: "Would it have been better if Arc Raiders failed and it didn't use AI?"
The use of AI in game development continues to split opinion. Some players won't touch a game if the technology was used at any point during development. Others are comfortable with AI as a time-saving tool, as long as AI-generated images or voices don't appear in the final product. And then there are those who don't care either way – or even welcome AI – so long as the game is good. Let us know your stance in the comments below.