"Teammates": Ubisoft experiments with AI teammates

Ubisoft's R&D department is working on generative AI teammates and assistants that could open up new gaming experiences. In the playable demo “Teammates,” Ubisoft has integrated two AI NPCs that react to the player's voice commands and follow in-game instructions. Furthermore, players can converse with the NPCs, whose personalities have been previously defined by writers, about the game world and the story.

According to Ubisoft, the AI teammates can interpret the players' intentions and tone of voice to react fluently and contextually. Ubisoft is currently testing Teammates in the context of a shooter, where the AI teammates take on the role of two robot companions. This is to be understood as a playable demo – whether and in what form the technology will find its way into video games for end consumers remains to be seen.

In any case, Ubisoft sees great potential in AI teammates: “The games of tomorrow will listen to players far more, understand them, and react to them than they do today,” says Xavier Manzanares, Director of Gameplay GenAI at Ubisoft. “Our research provides insight into what adaptive, generative gameplay could contribute in addition to proven game systems.”

“Combination of technology and creativity”

Ubisoft wants to take concerns about generative AI in video games seriously. The goal is not to replace creatives but to combine their creativity with technology: instead of writing each dialogue option individually as before, authors are to “write” the personalities of AI NPCs.

“Initially, I had the same concerns as many others,” says Ubisoft's Narrative Director Virginie Mosser. But the opposite is true: “I continue to write the story and the personalities of the characters, but instead of fixed dialogue lines, we create a kind of framework that allows NPCs to improvise within the world.” Accordingly, the AI NPCs can improvise but adhere to the rules defined by their designers.

In addition, Ubisoft has introduced an AI assistant named Jaspar, which is built on the same technology. Jaspar can, for example, interact with game options upon voice commands. Players can ask Jaspar to change graphics options or activate a color blindness mode. The assistant can also help with missions by, for example, explaining the game objective or providing gameplay tips. Upon request, Jaspar visually highlights important elements such as interactive objects or enemies.

Ubisoft is currently testing Teammates with “a few hundred players” as part of a closed game test to gather feedback. Based on this, Teammates are to be improved and expanded before the technology could potentially be used in “real” video games.

(dahe)