Activision surprised gamers with advertisements for new projects based on its popular franchises: Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, and Call of Duty. However, the ads themselves, created using neural networks, sparked a significant backlash.
Image: apple.com
The initial ad for Guitar Hero Mobile, appearing on Activision's social media and linking to an App Store pre-order page, featured unsettling, unnatural imagery. This quickly led to widespread discussion and reports of similar AI-generated art in ads for Crash Bandicoot Brawl and Call of Duty Mobile. While initial speculation pointed to a hack, Activision later confirmed this was a deliberate, albeit controversial, marketing experiment.
Image: apple.com
The gaming community's response was overwhelmingly negative. Many criticized Activision for using generative AI instead of collaborating with professional artists and designers, fearing a decline in quality and the potential for games to become "AI garbage." Comparisons to Electronic Arts and its controversial practices further fueled the criticism.
image: apple.com
Activision's increasing reliance on AI in development and marketing is becoming a major point of contention. The company has already confirmed the use of neural networks in creating content for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Following the intense criticism, some promotional posts were removed. Whether Activision intends to release these games or was merely gauging audience reaction remains uncertain.
