Hint on Steam: Activision uses generative AI in "Call of Duty"
Developers who use AI must disclose this on Steam. Now, with "Call of Duty", a very prominent title has received the AI notice.
(Image: Activision)
“Our team uses generative AI tools to develop selected game elements.” On the Steam page of the latest Call of Duty shooters, there is a disclaimer that refers to the use of generative AI in the development process. This confirms what many fans have long suspected.
Among other things, they suspect Activision of using AI for promotional images for the regularly delivered weapon skins and in-game goodies. However, the Steam disclaimer does not provide any further details about the use of AI in “Call of Duty”: It is a standard formulation from Valve that is supposed to be mandatory for all developers who use AI in the development process.
(Image:Â Valve)
Several “Call of Duty” games developed with AI
The reference to the use of AI can therefore be found in several titles from Activision's “Call of Duty” catalog – including “Black Ops 6” (2024), “Warzone” (2020) and “Call of Duty”, which was released in 2022. “Black Ops: Cold War” (2020), “Vanguard” (2021) and “Modern Warfare 3” (2023) show no indication of the use of AI in the development process.
Because AI assets can also be included in subsequently released cosmetic packs, it is not necessarily only the release date that is decisive, but also the duration of support. For example, the basic version of “Warzone”, which was released in 2020, was probably developed without AI, but apparently received in-game items that were developed using AI.
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For many games, the use of AI in the development of video games is a red flag – In a Steam thread, they even call for the possibility of filtering out such games. However, Valve's advice, which is based on a questionnaire filled out by developers, is not particularly subtle: a title in which AI is used to design individual graphics would receive the same advice as a game whose entire assets come from the image generator.
According to the latest Game Developers Conference survey, 36 percent of game developers use AI in their job. 27 percent stated that their companies are not interested in using generative AI.
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