Ubisoft's major investment in "player-facing" gen-AI could kill Assassin's Creed and Far Cry's remaining charm

Ubisoft delaying and canceling projects isn't exactly shocking these days. We're all used to seeing the company's games get pushed back, axed during development, or shut down after launch - I miss you, XDefiant… What we're not used to, though, is seeing several of them impacted all in one, ruthless swoop. That's what happened yesterday, with Ubisoft revealing a "major reset" of its studios and its lineup of upcoming games, something it deems necessary to futureproof itself.

While the seven mystery delays and six cancellations - one of which was the long-awaited Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake - were a tough pill to swallow, so too was the inevitable mention of generative AI. I've recently found myself getting genuinely excited about some of the rumored and confirmed games on Ubisoft's horizon, such as Assassin's Creed Hexe, the Splinter Cell remake, and two reportedly experimental Far Crys. Now, I'm just left wondering how this ramp-up of the controversial tech will affect these projects.

While it didn't play quite as heavy a role in Ubisoft's announcement post as I thought it could've, AI was mentioned twice, and is clearly going to be a big part of its new strategy. In its announcement post, the company says it's doubling down on open-world games and games-as-a-service experiences, and that this push is "supported by targeted investments, deeper specialization, and cutting-edge technology, including accelerated investments behind player-facing generative AI."

Using gen-AI in the development process is one thing - it's something that Larian Studios recently caught a lot of heat for, initially saying it would let concept artists use the technology for exploratory purposes before backing down from this after the backlash. But "player-facing" AI sounds like it'll really be front and centre. Visual assets, character designs, lore entries - who knows where the line will be drawn.

Now, I appreciate that my starry-eyed ramblings about Arc Raiders may seem hypocritical - its controversial merging of paid voice work and an AI text-to-speech system has resulted in some uninspiring, robotic dialog, whether that be in-game callouts or interactions with NPC traders. Believe me, I'm not enamored with these voice lines either - the lack of quality is noticeable. But, for me at least, it's not something that affects the core reason to play the game.

However, this could be far more detrimental for the kind of games Ubisoft wants to create. For all of the understandable commentary about 'the Ubisoft formula' and open-world bloat, the qualities I've found the most redeeming in gargantuan games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6 are its characters, worlds, and weapon designs.

Beautifully recreating locations with immense historical accuracy is a hallmark of Assassin's Creed. How might that hallmark suffer if gen-AI begins to take the reins? The lunacy of Far Cry's villains and companion designs could be diluted. A flat, emotionless AI voice line from a future operator in Rainbow Six Siege could break my mid-match immersion.

Plus, once you know the studio that made the game you're playing is open to using gen-AI, it's hard not to second-guess what is and isn't human-made. That psychological impact is hard to ignore, and you don't want players jumping at shadows in ways that sometimes lead to false allegations of AI use.

Gamers are demanding quality and authenticity more than ever - and ironically, Ubisoft wants to deliver on that more than it ever has before. In yesterday's announcement, it repeatedly mentions that one of its core goals is to deliver "exceptional" and "enhanced" levels of quality. However, it'll need to tread carefully. A major push for more AI and quicker development times is, of course, what the investors want to hear (even if yesterday's announcement of the reorganization saw its share price drop to pre-Far Cry 3 levels). But I think there is such a high danger that the redeeming features of Ubisoft's otherwise middling games will be compromised - and without redeeming features, an average game becomes a bad one.