Activision confirms Black Ops 7 uses gen-AI tools for assets, says they help "empower" its teams to "create the best gaming experiences possible"

Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is the latest high-profile game to confirm that it uses generative AI for some of its in-game assets, according to a disclosure on its Steam page. After similar disclosures were added to Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty Warzone's pages last year, the latest entry has followed suit. Some diving into the FPS game have been highlighting content that they believe to have been AI-generated, and the most commonly flagged assets are the Ghibli-style calling cards that can be earned from completing challenges in the new co-op campaign. In a statement provided to PCGamesN, Activision says its use of digital tools, including AI-powered ones, helps to "empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players."

While neither Activision nor any of the Call of Duty studios that work on the franchise have ever confirmed which individual assets have been created (either fully or partially) by AI, there have been some notorious examples criticized by players over the years. The most high profile was loading screen artwork depicting a zombie dressed as Santa Claus, earned through an in-game event. The zombie's outstretched hand featured six digits instead of five, a common mistake seen in AI art.

Black Ops 7 is now out on all platforms across all regions, and it's absolutely packed with content. But fans are already spotting some rewards that feature artwork they believe to be AI-generated. Replicating the style of Studio Ghibli, several campaign calling cards are being called into question. With the advancements in generative AI over recent months, mistakes as glaring as the six-fingered zombie are harder to come by, but the feel and rather unusual depictions in some of the calling cards are under scrunity.

As for BO7's Steam disclosure, it reads the same as the one that also sits on BO6 and Warzone's store pages: "Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets."

Earlier this year, Treyarch's associate creative director Miles Leslie addressed generative AI concerns in an interview with IGN, in which he said: "We've come out and been very clear that we use these [AI tools] as tools to help the team, but they do not replace any of the fantastic team members we have that are doing the final touches and building that content to put it in the game."

In regards to what exactly is AI-generated in Black Ops 7, PCGamesN contacted Activision for comment and clarification, and we received the following statement: "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. Our creative process continues to be lead by the talented individuals in our studios."

Another of this year's big new multiplayer games, Arc Raiders, has also been in the spotlight recently over its use of AI. As was confirmed to PCGamesN in an interview just before launch, Embark Studios said that voice actors were hired to record lines, but that generative AI would then be used to create a broader range of in-game audio, such as the callouts you hear when you ping items or locations. This plan was apparently disclosed to the actors in the contracts they signed. While Embark maintained that it didn't use generative AI "whatsoever" to create assets, its usage to expand its voice line library has still been widely criticized.