Activision Blizzard has started using AI to pick up the slack left by laid-off artists

Cal Jeffrey

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A hot potato: Generative AI systems have been shaking things up for over a year. It would be almost comical watching all these big companies fighting to one-up each other if it weren't for the fact that they are shoving the nascent technology down everyone's throats without allowing an option to opt-out in many cases.

Aside from the obvious dangers of deepfakes and disinformation, many have fears that generative AI has come for their jobs, and they aren't entirely wrong. According to anonymous insiders, the shift has already quietly begun at Activision Blizzard.

A former Call of Duty artist claims that last year, company heads promised in internal memos that they would only use AI to generate concept art and other material that would not go into the game. However, by the end of 2023, Activision had already released AI-generated content in the form of avatar skins in CoD:MW3.

In January, Phil Spencer announced Microsoft was laying off almost 2,000 staffers. Although there was no breakdown of the cuts, a second source told Wired that many of those laid off were 2D artists. This claim jives with the studio's eagerness to use AI for concept art. It also makes sense, considering that models are much better at generating 2D art than they were even a year ago.

Activision didn't limit the cuts to just CoD staff. At the same time that 2D artists were getting let go at Activision CoD, former Overwatch 2 artist Lucas Annunziata tweeted that Blizzard fired over half of its environmental art team. It wasn't just temps and junior staff either. Annunziata said Blizzard sacked associate- and senior-level artists, as well.

Before bashing Microsoft/Activision Blizzard, remember that it's not the only one in the industry considering replacing humans with AI or has already secretly done so. Embracer announced its AI ambitions last month, carefully labeling it "human-centric," after laying off 1,500 employees since June 2023. Many others have cut their workforce by double-digit percentages, citing everything but AI.

If studios are already laying off some highly talented artists because AI can create passable art for free, the issue will only escalate as the models get better. Today, 2D artists are losing their jobs. It could be 3D artists, set creators, level designers, and even programmers on the chopping block tomorrow.

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Oh good ... now we get weird cartoon like glossy skins and three fingered soldiers .... oh WAIT that's BETTER then everything they've done in the last 5 years ...
Not gonna lie, I think the weird stuff AI creates would make games more entertaining. Still made by those guys, though.
 
... if it weren't for the fact that they are shoving the nascent technology down everyone's throats without allowing an option to opt-out
Talk about yellow-journalistic gaslighting. If you don't want games that use this tech, don't purchase them. Simple. And if the company doesn't label it as such and you can't tell the difference yourself -- what does it matter? It's a video game, not a political statement.
 
If it benefits the customer I'm all for it.
Companies can't replace everyone with AI. Like FSD, the tech is nowhere near safe and effective for everyday use without oversight.
 
True art has never been about profit - it will evolve and continue to exist - and true artists tend to die poor (and young)...

As for those who profit from art - well, guess they'll have to evolve too - if AI can do something better (or almost as good), then I'm all for it... maybe we can get a AAA video game that doesn't cost $70?
 
Haven't been buying any of their games since the Diablo 4 disaster so they can kiss my butt. Not giving them a single dime.
Diablo 3 was already a disaster, and I stopped buying anything Activision Blizzard after that. But to be fair, most major game publishers have lost the desire to make good games. They just want to make games that gives them the highest profit with minimal cost and effort. Hence, games are all about graphics and remasters, with no depth in them.
 
With all the cost saving A.I being implemented everywhere looking forward to the price reductions on products and services.
 
With all the cost saving A.I being implemented everywhere looking forward to the price reductions on products and services.
It would be a madness if something like cod got cheaper. They would never make something cheaper if it sells well already. Cod sells extremely well.
 
The 10,000s of hours of development time into a game that yields 80-100 hours of gameplay... does that ratio really sound appealing? 10000:100 ? no.

this is the direction world is going.... with anything where the building time costs more than the life cycle of the end result/product....
pure and simple..

It'll be our downfall. Watch.
 
With all the cost saving A.I being implemented everywhere looking forward to the price reductions on products and services.
If you think they’re going to drop the price of games you’re absolutely delusional. There is no upside to this. We pay the same amount for games, and tons of people are losing their jobs, all while the large corporations make more money.
 
At what point will ai replace the single greatest expense for these companies... The ceos, and upper management that are so hell bent on the pursuit of profits rather than making good games?
 
Ownership of the game and its assets is going to be interesting. I hope that people do all kinds of nasty things with the public domain graphics in celebration.
 
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