Activision has revealed that it uses “generative AI tools” in the Call of Duty franchise in order to “help develop some in-game assets.” The update appeared on the Call of Duty HQ page of Steam which now requires developers and publishers to disclose the use of AI in their games. Activision didn’t go into any specifics regarding to what extent the AI tools are being used in the games, though.
Call of Duty has a history of alleged AI usage in the franchise. For example, Modern Warfare 3‘s Yokai’s Wrath DLC bundle apparently featured artwork that eagle-eyed players accused Activision of using AI to generate. Black Ops 6‘s holiday-themed content was also alleged to have used generative AI, though Activision never confirmed this. The new disclosure on Call of Duty HQ finally reveals that the publisher does use AI to some degree for the series, confirming previous suspicions.
Under the “AI Generated Content Disclosure” section of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s Steam page, you can now find the description: “The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this: Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in-game assets.”
Considering the reported budgets for Call of Duty games which can reach as much as $700 million, you’d think Activision would enlist a few artists to create original artwork for the games. However, an anonymous source told Wired in 2024 that developers were afraid to speak out about the use of AI out of fear of losing their jobs. The same source claimed that a lot of 2D artists were laid off in early 2024 as part of Microsoft’s large-scaled job cuts, while remaining artists were then forced to use AI to help in their work.
Activision has yet to begin marketing this year’s Call of Duty entry but we imagine people will be keeping a closer eye on how much AI artwork is used for the title now.
