Activision finally puts an end to the speculation of AI content in Black Ops 6 by disclosing the information. On Steam, Activision updated the Call of Duty Steam page with a new section talking about using generated AI content on the game. The speculation of Activision resorting to AI content began at the release of the Season 1 Reloaded update for Black Ops 6. The uneasy feeling of seeing AI content was present in loading screens, Calling Cards, and art used to sell the event to the players.
Many took to the internet to point out the uncanny parts of the AI picture online, one of the specific ones featured Zombie Santa or Necroclaus. The Santa picture for Black Ops 6 has a few more fingers than usual, which is always a telltale sign of an AI-related content piece. We know after seeing thousands of images online, AI always struggled to recreate hands on a human being. So seeing Santa having one more extra finger raised suspicion of foul play by many fans.
“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.“
That’s just one part of the news, many quickly posted screenshots of their experience in the game; which led to the reveal of more AI-related content. After piles of pictures gathered up online, this made the speculation of AI content in Call of Duty games lean more real and factual. And now we know Actuvitison did use the AI content to generate many images throughout Black Ops 6.
The reveal of the information came directly from Valve’s new update which forces developers to reveal AI content information on their store page. The new rules make developers disclose information on AI-related content present in the game.
“Pre-Generated: Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development. Under the Steam Distribution Agreement, you promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials. In our pre-release review, we will evaluate the output of AI generated content in your game the same way we evaluate all non-AI content – including a check that your game meets those promises.“
“Live-Generated: Any kind of content created with the help of AI tools while the game is running. In addition to following the same rules as Pre-Generated AI content, this comes with an additional requirement: in the Content Survey, you’ll need to tell us what kind of guardrails you’re putting on your AI to ensure it’s not generating illegal content.“
Activision has previously been accused of using AI back in 2023, Activision sold an AI Created Cosmetic for Modern Warfare 3. However the lack of rules for AI content made Activision a bit reluctant to reveal any information regarding their AI usage.
This comes as no surprise, as Activision laid off 1900 employees after Microsoft acquired the company for 70 billion dollars. This saw many talented 2D artists leave the company, and AI managed to fill their void in the organization. Suffice it to say that after the reveal, players who worked hard to earn the cosmetics in the game are not happy with their AI content.
We genuinely don’t know where the AI revolution will lead the gaming frontier, but it is off to a rocky start. The rising AI usage almost anywhere on the internet has made people aware of AI-generated compared to User-created content. Steam’s new rule allowing developers to at least disclose the information of AI usage is a massive step in combating AI in video games. Instead of outright banning; Steam is leaving the decision in the hands of the player.
