Activision Blizzard has reportedly approved the use of generative AI tools, including Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, to produce concept art and marketing materials.
That's according to a recent investigation by Wired, which obtained an internal memo from Activision's then-chief technology officer Michael Vance approving the use of these generative AI tools. Vance stepped down from his role in January 2024, but continues to work for Activision as a software engineer.
One former employee claimed the publisher “assured its artists that generative AI would be used only for internal concepts, not final game assets” and that “AI would not be used to replace them.”
Wired's report highlighted that unlike Activision, Blizzard does not allow developers to use publicly available AI generators and is instead developing its own AI tools.
One former employee cited Microsoft's January layoffs, which saw the loss of 1,900 employees from its gaming division, including many 2D artists from Activision. The employee claimed that “the remaining concept artists were forced to use AI to assist in their work” and that they had to enroll in AI training.
Gaming Industry.biz has contacted Activision Blizzard for comment.
The investigation also found that Riot is developing its own internal generative AI system, with head of technology research Wesley Kerr saying it is exploring “generative AI tools that could improve the player experience in ways that align with (its) values.”
“We know AI is a complex topic and we will be transparent with players about our intentions,” Kerr said.
A recent report by consultancy CVL Economics found that nearly 90% of gaming companies had already used generative AI during development, including to generate storyboards, character designs, renders and animations.
Many generative AI tools, like Midjourney, are trained by scraping artwork from the internet without the original artist’s consent. Speaking to Forbes last year, Midjourney CEO David Holtz said the company does not seek consent for copyrighted works due to problems identifying their provenance.