We knew Generative AI is affecting many jobs across the gaming industry but now we are starting to see actual layoffs. Earlier, WIRED reported that many Activision employees were laid off after the company started using Generative AI to create game assets.
The use of Generative AI started back in January 2023 when Activision approved the use of tools like Midjourney and Open AI’s GPT that has now led to, reportedly… layoffs.
It looks and sounds bad, but I think things might be on the verge of getting worse. For the time being it seems only 2D Artists were affected by this but soon we might see Audio Engineers and Voice actors losing their jobs.
After the approval of AI in January 2023, Activision filed its own patent in December (that got publicly published on July 4, 2024), for a machine learning process that creates gameplay audio.
This patent filing describes a method for using machine learning to generate more realistic audio reactions for non-player characters (NPCs) in video games.
The tech will be used to create audio reactions for virtual game characters that sound more like real human players in multiplayer games. The system captures audio reactions of actual human players (Activision will be listening to YOU to train its machine learning model??).
It correlates these reactions with specific in-game events that triggered them. This data is then used to train a neural network (a type of machine learning model).
Once trained, the neural network can generate appropriate audio reactions for NPCs during similar game events.
The tech can potentially affect Voice Actors, Audio Specialists, Audio Directors, Sound Designers, and others depending on the scale and nature of its use.
Activision isn’t the Only One
Sony is also in the process of creating tech that can potentially affect developers and artists. For example, just a few weeks ago I reported on a patent filing that described Generative AI tech from Sony that will create in-game customization items from player input.
Sounds similar, no? Are we looking at future layoffs at Sony Studios as well?
