Activision Once Again Under Fire Over Alleged Generative AI Use, Now for... a Fake Guitar Hero Game?

Activision is erstwhile again successful occupation with fans implicit generative AI. Just 1 week aft it admitted to utilizing generative AI successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 for a fig of assets, the steadfast is present being accused of utilizing generative AI again to beforehand a antithetic game: Guitar Hero Mobile. But adjacent arsenic audiences knock the promotion, sharp-eyed fans are discovering that Guitar Hero Mobile whitethorn not adjacent beryllium a existent crippled successful the archetypal place.

As reported by Insider Gaming, the generative AI successful question appears to person been utilized successful an Instagram advertisement for the newly-announced Guitar Hero Mobile posted 2 days ago. The advertisement features 4 guitar players connected a signifier successful precise akin poses with similarly-blobby reddish guitars, surrounded by distorted speakers that look suspiciously similar washing machines and immoderate wide of blobby microphones straight down them.

In beforehand of them is an assemblage that includes a fig of disposable legs that don't look to beryllium to anybody, and down the halfway is simply a Guitar Hero way with incorrectly colored tracks and blobby, inconsistent notes, immoderate of which don't colour lucifer the way they're on. Put together, each of these issues are tell-tale signs of generative AI art, and fixed Activision's caller way record, it's beauteous apt that's what's happening.

In the comments, fans are furious. "Shows however overmuch effort went into this erstwhile you can't adjacent get your ain crippled right," reads 1 response. Another calls the advertisement "Lazy AI slop," portion different reads, "you’d deliberation a elephantine institution similar Activision would person immoderate fund for a existent graphic designer". A 4th says, "Wow. It appears they're inactive utilizing midjourney 1.0. I haven't seen AI creation this atrocious since the aboriginal days."

But this isn't wherever the weird generative AI ads end. As a fewer websites specified arsenic Time Extension and 80.lv person pointed out, Activision appears to person softly dropped a fig of generative AI-created ads connected Instagram for a smattering of games that haven't different been announced by the company. These see a Call of Duty Zombies mobile game, thing called Call of Duty: Sniper, and thing other called Crash Bandicoot Brawl. At the clip we're penning this, nary of these ads are viewable publically connected Activision's authoritative Instagram, but the Guitar Hero Mobile crippled advertisement is inactive available via nonstop link.

Where this gets adjacent weirder is that fans person managed to find a leafage for Guitar Hero Mobile connected a website called Geeklab, implicit with adjacent much AI imagery. Geeklab is simply a idiosyncratic acquisition and penetration institution that allows publishers to make "look-alike" store pages for mobile games successful bid to trial idiosyncratic interest. Clicking "GET" connected the Guitar Hero Mobile leafage takes users to a survey that claims "This isn't a existent game, but could beryllium immoderate day!" and asks them a fig of questions astir wherefore they clicked connected the advertisement and however apt they would beryllium to play thing similar Guitar Hero Mobile.

What appears to beryllium happening present is that Activision launched immoderate benignant of advertisement run to gauge idiosyncratic involvement successful a fig of imaginable mobile games that don't beryllium yet. Because those games aren't real, it utilized generative AI for its advertizing art, and confused the heck retired of fans who different would person been stoked for an existent Guitar Hero Mobile game.

This comes conscionable 1 week aft Activision admitted to utilizing generative AI successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Said generative AI assets were actually discovered and called retired backmost successful December, but it took the steadfast astir 3 months to admit it had utilized generative AI successful Call of Duty loading screens, calling cards, and different in-game art.

Activision declined to remark to IGN for this piece.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].