Publisher Activision is gauging interest for new Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot mobile games by using AI generated adverts for non-existent titles. Players may have noticed advertisements for Guitar Hero Mobile, Crash Bandicoot Brawl and Call of Duty: Zombie Defender popping up on Activision’s social media channels lately. Unfortunately, these titles aren’t real and only seem to be the publisher’s way of testing the waters.
Some of the ads for these games feature links to mock-up app stores. When users try to download the games, they’re met with a message that confirms these games aren’t real but generated through AI as “placeholders” to gauge interest from the community. “Thanks for your interest! This isn’t a real game, but could be some day! We’d love if you could answer this short survey, which could help inform the potential future of this game. Your feedback really matters to us!” reads the message.
The adverts even include fake descriptions for what players can “expect” from these games (likely AI-generated too). The description for Guitar Hero Mobile reads: “Guitar Hero Mobile is a fast-paced, competitive mobile rhythm game where players face off in real-time musical battles, hitting notes in sync with the music to climb the global leaderboards and become the ultimate rockstar.”
As for Call of Duty‘s description, it reads: “Call of Duty: Zombie Defender is a top-down, tactical mobile defense game where players build defenses and fight off waves of zombies in an iconic, post-apocalyptic world.”
Finally, Crash Bandicoot Brawl, which honestly sounds like the franchise’s take on Fall Guys, reads: “Crash Bandicoot Brawl is a fast-paced, round survival game where 30+ contestants compete against one another in wacky platforming, puzzle-solving, and obstacle course challenges.”
Activision has been very open about its use of AI in games, perhaps forcibly so after Steam’s updated policies now require publishers and developers to disclose the use of AI in their games. There’s been some speculation that Activision has been using AI in the Call of Duty franchise but the company recently confirmed this to be the case, at least for “some in-game assets.”
Source: Video Games Chronicle
