Ubisoft has recently been experimenting with generative AI, pushing the boundaries of how a player can interact with an NPC. The idea of AI-generated NPCs hasn't gone over too well with most gamers on the Internet.
Recently, Ubisoft's Paris studio teamed up with Nvidia's Audio2Face and Inworld's Large Language Model (LLM) to explore generative AI. Their project, NEO NPC, aims to create lifelike NPC interactions that will expand the limits of player-NPC engagement while maintaining authenticity and character integrity.
Players Want Interesting Gameplay, Not Soulless AI-NPCs
“The way we worked on this project, is always with our players and our developers in mind,” says Senior Vice President of Production Technology, Guillemette Picard. “With the player in mind, we know that developers and their creativity must still drive our projects. Generative AI is only of value if it has value for them.”
Anyway, said players did not react too well to Ubisoft's announcement on X/Twitter.
Conversations with in-game characters are getting more real!Presenting our research project, NEO NPCs, a new kind of NPC that uses generative AI to really talk to you! Discover how our team of writers and developers are coming together in this exciting experiment:... pic.twitter.com/FvvyvXWZKu
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 19, 2024
Some players seem to think that capacity is misplaced and that Ubisoft should focus more on good stories and interesting new games, as comments like "So your games will be even more soulless? I thought that's impossible" and "Nobody wants this except obsessive tech bros. How about paying writers to do something interesting and on-theme?" show.
Ubisoft is often criticized. Players are annoyed by unfinished, buggy games, loveless stories and characters, and more and more overpriced microtransactions.
Project NEO NPC is a prototype designed to become a versatile tool for Ubisoft games, from smaller projects to AAA titles. Presented at GDC 2024, it's a checkpoint for gathering industry feedback and learning how this technology can benefit both developers and players in the future, says Picard.
So if Ubisoft really starts to listen to what players want, maybe they can find a way to make everyone happy. Even with Gen-AI NPCs.