Blizzard Entertainment, the Irvine-based video game developer and publisher best known for its Warcraft and Diablo games, including The War Within (World of Warcraft’s tenth expansion) and 2023’s Diablo IV, is one of the few gaming companies that have distanced themselves from the use of generative AI, according to a new investigative article that claims the studio, which launched in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, has, despite having developed its own AI tools, “all but banned generative AI” for use among its developers. Activision, its sibling studio, appears to be taking a different approach, having apparently used generative AI for game development (e.g., paid cosmetics for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III) amid its laying off of what’s been described as scores of workers.
From a report:
- “‘There are basically two camps,’ says Karla Ortiz, an artist who often works in the industry, companies that are like ‘Oh, hell no,’ and companies who see this as ‘Ooh I can cut labor costs.'”
- “… some studios have all but banned generative AI use. According to multiple sources, Blizzard, unlike its sibling studio Activision, doesn’t allow devs to use publicly available AI generators, even as it develops its own AI tools.”
- “…Activision assured its artists that generative AI would be used only for internal concepts…yet by the end of the year, Activision made an AI-generated cosmetic available for purchase on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 store.”
- “In late January, Microsoft laid off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees—among the teams hit hard were 2D artists.”
- “A recent survey from the organizers of the Game Developers Conference found that 49 percent of the survey’s more than 3,000 respondents said their workplace used AI, and four out of five said they had ethical concerns about its use.”
A new Diablo IV: Spiritborn video that shows off some of Blizzard’s latest work:
As for where the gaming industry might be headed:
IF THERE’S ONE thing a number of games workers say they’re glad AI is generating, it’s more interest in unions. “AI is definitely a catalyst for workers to organize,” says Beglov, who appeared on a panel on the topic at this year’s GDC. “If AI is going to be used, it has to be used with workers’ consent and workers having a voice.” Fifty-seven percent of developers surveyed by GDC organizers this year said they were in support of unionizing.