Ubisoft’s boss is no longer speaking in hypotheticals: he says the company’s future is tied to generative artificial intelligence, and the first big experimental project built around it has already been unveiled. According to Yves Guillemot, this technology is now woven into the workflows of every Ubisoft studio, and the publisher has already showcased its first experimental game project powered by generative AI.

Generative artificial intelligence has become one of the most divisive talking points in the video game industry. More and more studios are embracing it as a tool that could radically transform development pipelines and the moment-to-moment experience of playing. Even though there are still plenty of voices pushing back against generative AI, Ubisoft is taking a huge step in that direction: during a recent investor call, CEO Yves Guillemot made it clear that the company is committed to this technology for the long term.

The publisher is already comparing the impact of generative AI to the historic jump from two-dimensional graphics to 3D, and it is using that mindset to frame Teammates, a prototype that experiments with AI-driven companions in a fully playable setting.

Teammates Is Ubisoft’s First Playable Generative AI Project

As reported by Game File, Guillemot devoted a dedicated segment of his latest shareholder meeting to the subject of generative AI. In addition to stressing that artificial intelligence has already been rolled out across all of Ubisoft’s studios, the French executive explicitly likened this shift to the move from 2D to 3D. “We are making great strides in applying generative AI to high-value use cases that deliver tangible benefits to our players and teams”, he explained.

“It is as big a revolution for our industry as the move to 3D. And we have everything we need to lead the way. Regarding the player experience, we continue to advance innovative player-focused generative AI applications based on our announcements about the new NPCs in 2024. We have already moved beyond the prototype phase and hope to share more information before the end of the year”, he added, referring to the first AI project they showcased last year.

The initiative in question was presented at last year’s GDC. NEO NPCs is a generative AI prototype designed to overhaul the way we interact with non-player characters. These NPCs support freeform voice conversations, can answer our questions, and react to the tone of our voice, something that Ubisoft claims can influence how the story unfolds and how missions play out. The program is still being refined, and the publisher expects to roll it out in actual games over the next few years.

Ubisoft’s commitment to AI does not stop there, though. “In terms of production, we now have teams across all our studios and offices embracing this new technology and constantly exploring new use cases in programming, art, and overall game quality”, Guillemot said (via Eurogamer). In that broader context, Ubisoft has recently lifted the curtain on Teammates, its first playable generative AI research project.

Teammates: Ubisoft’s Playable AI Experiment

As explained on Ubisoft’s official website, Teammates is pitched as the company’s next big step in its generative AI push. It takes the form of a first-person shooter-style experiment in which the player joins a resistance cell infiltrating an enemy base to track down five missing comrades. Along the way, you go up against enemy squads while relying on a voice assistant called Jaspar to support you.

The AI-controlled allies react to the player’s commands in real time. The assistant does far more than handle basic voice commands, too: it can highlight enemies, provide additional story context, tweak gameplay options on the fly and even pause the game in response to spoken instructions. Meanwhile, the squadmates shown in the demo can receive tactical orders such as moving between pieces of cover or focusing fire on specific marked targets.

According to Ubisoft, early tests suggest that players quickly form a bond with these characters and tend to lean on Jaspar as a guide whenever they are lost or unsure about their next objective. The company is keen to stress that the goal is not to replace writers or designers, but to let NPCs improvise within defined boundaries while still respecting the game’s story and narrative framework.

Writers therefore remain central to the process, since they define the world’s personality and overall narrative, while the AI adjusts dialogue, reactions and actions in real time based on the player’s voice and choices. Ubisoft says it has already tested Teammates with hundreds of users and will keep collecting feedback to improve the technology and explore a wider range of personalized use cases.

Source: 3djuegos