Activision has launched an announcement in response to participant outcry over the obvious use of generated AI artwork property in numerous areas of Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 7.
Following the AI ββGhibli picture pattern from earlier this 12 months, gamers are as we speak taking to social media to complain about what seem like AI-generated pictures all through the sport, focusing totally on calling card pictures that seem to make use of the Studio Ghibli model.
I have never seemed on the multiplayer and zombies calling playing cards that intently, so I am prepared to wager that additionally they use AI, however solely the marketing campaign and endgame calling playing cards have any such overtly Sora/Grok artwork model. pic.twitter.com/5qmEXhoQkJ
β Kume (@Kumesicles) November 14, 2025
In response to this outcry, Activision issued an announcement to plenty of media shops, together with PC Gamer, acknowledging the problem… “Like many individuals all over the world, we use quite a lot of digital instruments, together with AI instruments, to help and empower our groups to create the most effective gaming experiences potential for our gamers. Our inventive course of continues to be led by the proficient people at our studio.”
It is price mentioning that the Steam web page for Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 7 additionally contains the next disclaimer: βOur staff makes use of generative AI instruments to assist develop some recreation property.β Not precisely descriptive!
This is not the primary time Name of Responsibility has come below fireplace for this. This very state of affairs performed out in February when Activision admitted to utilizing generative AI within the improvement of Black Ops 6. That included a zombie Santa loading display screen that offended followers dubbed “AI slop.”
And simply this August, Black Ops 7 Affiliate Artistic Director Miles Leslie additional clarified the staff’s stance on this expertise.
“We reside in a world now the place there are AI instruments. I believe the official assertion we made final 12 months round Black Ops 6 was that 100% of all the pieces that goes into the sport is touched by the staff. We now have generative AI instruments that may assist, however none of them are within the recreation.”
“And also you say, ‘Oh, however, yeah.’ You may name {that a} coincidence. And it was by no means meant. We have made it clear that we’re utilizing these as instruments to assist the staff, however they do not substitute the wonderful staff members who’re placing the ending touches and constructing the content material to enter the sport.
“So all the pieces you play is created and touched by people. The AI ββinstruments of the world we reside in. How can we streamline that? That is the actual aim. Streamline, not substitute.”
In response, videogameaddicted requested why zombie Santas and different AI-generated pictures have not been faraway from the sport but, to which Leslie replied that it is not his division and that “the staff is actively contemplating issues like that.” It is unclear if, why, or how Activision’s stance on this has modified over time.
“Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 7” is now out there. We tried the marketing campaign and weren’t utterly offered on it, with a reviewer saying, “It is a wild marketing campaign due to the breadth of its ambitions, however massive swings do not at all times translate into success, and it is a step down from final 12 months.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at videogameaddicted. You’ll find her posts at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Do you may have any story ideas? Ship it to rvalentine@videogameaddicted.com.