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Those of you who can remember back to last year will know that isn't the first time Activision has used generative AI to make in-game assets: They're present in Black Ops 6 (and Modern Warfare 3) as well. But in that case, the visuals were relatively normal and it took months of suspicion and allegations before Activision copped to it.
The Black Ops 7 calling card images stand in sharp contrast to those images, though, which just sort of sucked (and had bad fingers), and the feeling among some is that by using the popular Ghibli style, Activision is displaying a complete indifference to the potential for backlash. Where previously it might have taken a softer, more subtle approach to generative AI, this time around it's just rubbing people's faces in it.
Activision makes no secret of the fact that it uses AI, although as is the way with massive corporations, specifics are in short supply. The Black Ops 7 Steam page carries an obligatory AI generated content disclosure: "Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets."
That's not much to go on, and unfortunately Activision wasn't a whole lot more helpful in a statement provided to 18WENKU. "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," Activision said. "Our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios."
It's an empty bit of "people first!" noise that could just as easily refer to someone punching prompts into the plagiarism machine as actual artists creating actual art. Neither does it address the very straightforward question of, are these specific images gen-AI? The fact is, I don't know for certain, but given the preponderance of evidence I'm going to assume that, yeah, they probably are.
For the record, I have done my best to bully Activision into providing more specifics on the calling card images. I don't expect it'll relent, but I'll update this story if it does.
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