'Call of Duty' Makers Called Out Over Plans to Use AI

Treyarch, the studio behind popular Activision games such as Black Ops, Call of Duty Zombies, and Call of Duty (COD) Cold War, posted a job listing that had the gaming community infuriated. 

Popular news portal CharlieIntel, which generally posts gaming news surrounding Activision games, has spotted the studio's call for a 2D artist and animator from Los Angeles to be part of its in-house team and work on a variety of content for its games.

A Treyarch job listing suggests the studio may be looking to use AI tools in art dev.

An Animator role states a person will "polish 2D art made by humans and generative Al tools"

Microsoft has been making a push for AI use in game development as part of their AI tools pic.twitter.com/GcJ6tIWLCl

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) April 28, 2024

In listing down the skillset needed for the role, Treyarch has noted that the candidate must be skilled in using generative AI tools, indicating the use of the technology in the game's art development. 

To be more specific, their responsibilities will include polishing "2D art made by humans and generative AI tools," and having "advanced expertise in working with generative AI tools such as Stable Diffusion, Vizcom, Dall-E, or equivalent."

Users React to Treyarch's Potential AI Use

Netizens did not shy away from airing their thoughts over the listing, with many believing the game in development is the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise up for release later this year, "Black Ops Gulf War."

why are they looking for someone this late? am i tweaking or was a game dropping this year?

— did you pray today? (@lilsex) April 28, 2024

Meanwhile, others have questioned the ethics of using such technology in producing a game, believing that AI would be taking the place of actual artists and animators.

Film concept and illustrator Reid Southen shared his opinions on X, saying the COD creators are "making it abundantly clear they have zero concerns about ethics, liability, or copyright with generative AI."

While a large population of the gaming community opposed the potential move, others defended the use of generative AI in making the game. 

People see the word “ai” and lose their minds. They’re not making ai paintings that they will sell they’re most likely making character models, map designs, potentially guns etc.
AI ≠ bad or unethical

— ☆Yogi (@MylnnerChild) April 28, 2024

"I feel like people [overreact] to this, as long as the entire game is not AI then I don’t see the issue at all," another user wrote. 

It is unsure whether the job listing was meant for the new COD game in development, let alone just how much of the technology will be used in its formation.

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Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang