AI is everywhere right now, from Timbaland’s generative AI music to development in the game industry. The term “AI slop” gets thrown around a lot, and players are very resistant to it, as many believe it stifles human creativity. The latest studio to comment on this is Battlefield 6 developers Dice, in an interview with the BBC. Rebecka Coutaz of EA Dice said the following:
“If we can break the magic with AI it will help us be more innovative and more creative.”
They were very quick to verify that Battlefield 6 doesn’t actually use generative AI for its in-game content, even if the tech is “very seducing,” according to Rebecka. This sentiment should not come as a surprise from a massive publisher like EA, which needs to answer to shareholders and deliver massive annual releases. Even though things might change with their $55 billion buyout, profits are still the top priority, and they always will be.
The use of generative AI directly translates to faster development cycles and lower costs (at the expense of human jobs, to a degree). One of my favorite FPS games, The Finals, uses AI for certain NPC voicelines, as confirmed by the developers themselves. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 also uses AI-generated content to develop “some in-game assets,” according to the Steam page.
Should Sports Games Resist Or Embrace AI?
EA is a massive company that seems to never shy away from controversy, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they start implementing AI more heavily. In fact, if you look at the EA FC 26 Steam page, you’ll find that they’re already using it to some extent.
“Generative AI may have been used in creating pre-rendered or live-generated content for this game. All such content is the result of a human-led artistic and creative process“
The quote above is a very vague statement. It’s hard to verify just how “human-led” these AI processes really are. EA also used AI in College Football 25, as reported by Polygon. It’s likely that a lot of EA Sports teams are exploring similar systems. So, should sports games embrace this trend or steer clear?
On one hand, sports games are heavily reliant on repetition; animations, commentary, and player reactions are reused hundreds of times. Machine learning can help reduce the workload while improving realism. AI could also dynamically generate commentary that reacts to in-game situations. The Finals, the FPS game I mentioned earlier, does this surprisingly well.
On the other hand, some people feel like sports games are already corporate, annual iterations designed to drain as much money from your wallet as possible. That’s not my sentiment, but the sentiment of many players themselves. Martin Tyler was a leading commentator in many of the early FIFA games, and his emotions aren’t something algorithms can fully replicate. In a world where sports games already feel soulless to many, replacing creative human elements with AI can make them even colder.
Studios have to be very careful with creeping AI into more corners of game development, because it will blur the line where artistry ends and efficiency begins.
