Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the latest installment in the popular Call of Duty series, was released on November 14th. Many fans, upon first downloading and playing the game, were quick to notice that several pieces of the game’s artwork were created by generative AI (AI). The game’s publisher, Activision, has since responded to these complaints and confirmed their usage of AI.
After Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s release yesterday, fans were quick to notice and post about the in-game AI artwork. The artwork in question is the “calling cards” for the game’s Campaign, Endgame, Multiplayer, and Zombie modes.
The “AI artstyle” was easily recognizable from previous AI trends, such as generating AI images in the Studio Ghibli artstyle. The “Reeled In” calling card, for example, shares its style, character expressions, and colors with AI images generated during this trend. Furthermore, the “artstyle” differs across calling cards, which further hints that the artwork was made with AI software, which struggles with consistency, rather than real artists.
Many fans of Call of Duty were confused and offended by the game’s usage of AI. Given the popularity and financial success of the series, many fans described how the studio could have afforded to pay talented artists to work on the game’s calling cards. As such, many fans viewed the inclusion of AI-generated artwork as a sign of greed or laziness.
In a report by PC Gamer, Activision has since responded to these fan complaints. The publisher remarked that “like so many around the world, we use variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams” and that “our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios.” The Steam page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 confirms this statement further, as it says “our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets.” Which assets have been AI-generated remains unclear, although it’s safe to assume that some of the calling card artwork falls into this category.
Despite backlash, Activision appears to continue supporting the integrating of AI generated assets into their games. How the inclusion of AI generated imagery will impact the Call of Duty series remains to be seen.