Gamers are well and truly in the trenches right now, and after voice acting legends like Jennifer Hale spoke out about the potential of artificial intelligence replacing them, there have been similar concerns from artists, developers, and pretty much anyone involved in the industry.
This isn't helped when Microsoft slashed some 9.000 jobs after announcing it was investing $80 billion in AI, while others are leaning hard on AI to help push their titles into the next generation of technology. Some are holding the line for now, but when Larian Studios co-founder Swen Vincke (known for Baldur's Gate 3) says it would be 'irresponsible' not to explore artificial intelligence, and the Indie Game Awards disqualified Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for using AI, it's not looking good for those trying to stick to the old ways.
Now, one gaming Goliath is being sucked into the black hole of AI controversy, with Electronic Arts accused of using it in Battlefield 6. The fight between Call of Duty and Battlefield rages almost as hot as the console wars of PlayStation versus Xbox, and despite CoD looking like it remains impossible to top, Battlefield 6 gave it a run for its money in 2025.
As reported by Kotaku, EA is investigating complaints that it used generative AI in one of Battlefield 6's shop bundles.
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The addition of winter cosmetics led to one eagle-eyed fan claiming stickers from the Windchill bundle (selling for just under $10) weren't made by the hand of a humble human artist.
In a viral post on the game's subreddit, one angry person said: "Two barrels on the M4A1, sure. I would literally prefer to have no sticker than some low quality AI generated garbage.
“You can look at BO7 and see how many favors AI generated rewards won with them.”
The outlet notes that while this might not be as egregious as Black Ops 6 having a six-fingered zombie Santa on its loading screen, other bits of generative AI, like a 10-clawed bear, appear to have slipped through the cracks.
Calling out the multi-billion-dollar company on the r/gaming subreddit, someone else fumed: "Not one person cared enough to correct it or even notice it in the first place."
It was in this thread that one gamer said they were unsurprised, especially after EA said it would be investing heavily in 'instant AI'.
Someone else raged: "This was literally the reason billionaires want AI to work, it means they can fire that graphic designers and get some intern to make crap like this. Then if people buy it, they have won and this is all justified."
Another joked: "If every trillion dollar company shoves AI down our throat, why shouldn't EA do it?"
A third foreshadowed where things are heading as they grimly predicted: "This stuff is going to sell like sh*t and cause AAA gaming to continue to collapse and then they'll claim that video games are dying, actually."
The big issue here is that the inclusion of generative AI would go against promises made by EA Vice President Rebecka Coutaz. Known for overseeing DICE and other teams responsible for Battlefield, Coutaz said there would be no generative AI in the game, although it was used in the early development process "to allow more time and more space to be creative.”
Then again, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson saying the publisher sees AI as a "powerful accelerator of creativity, innovation, and player connection," many gamers were left expecting exactly this kind of outcome.