So far, most major game studios have presented AI as a behind-the-scenes tool that can help developers create games more efficiently – not necessarily something that'll directly generate content you'll actually interact with in-game. Ubisoft is going a step further, revealing as part of today's restructuring announcement that it plans to shove generative AI directly in players' faces.
In a press release accompanying today's news, Ubisoft says its plans, which are centered on open-world games and live service titles, will be "supported by targeted investments, deeper specialization, and cutting-edge technology, including accelerated investments behind player-facing Generative AI."
The key phrase there is "player-facing," suggesting that Ubisoft's plans to put generative AI content directly in front of players is moving forward in a big way. The company has been teasing AI-powered NPCs for years now, and more recently offered an extensive breakdown of the AI companion tech it calls Teammates.
Last year, CEO Yves Guillemot said that AI will make open-world games "your world" with fewer "pre-scripted things." Given how generative AI content has worked up to this point, I suspect we're more likely to see the drudgery of modern 100-hour open-world games start to feel even more like slop.
Nexon CEO Junghun Lee famously noted last year that "it's important to assume that every game company is now using AI." For many major figures in the game industry – including the likes of Hideo Kojima, Todd Howard, and Gabe Newell – AI has value as a tool, but not as something that should be generating content better built by creative minds. I guess we'll soon see how Ubisoft's opposite approach works out.
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor says "there's no f*cking way AI could make" anything like Larian's hit RPG: "It's too interesting, subtle, crazy, off the wall, pathos-filled. It's too human."
