Battlefield 6 made a name for itself this year as one of the shooter genre’s success stories, beating out Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 whose underperformance prompted an entire restructuring of future franchise releases. However, the headlines are somewhat less positive today, as what appears to be an AI-generated player card sticker is included in a purchasable in-game bundle – two months after VP general manager went on record to say that no generative AI content will be used in the game.
Before going further, we do have to stress that the use of AI for the cosmetic item is speculative, the Battlefield team have yet to comment on this story to any outlet including ourselves, but the image doesn’t look promising. The Winter Warning sticker in the new Windchill bundle shows a soldier holding an assault rifle that appears to have two barrels, with murky detailing making the creative intent behind that choice unclear. It is possible to have a two-barreled assault rifle, but such weapons tend to have their barrels side-by-side, rather than the diagonally stacked approach of the sticker. The weapon itself also just looks squished and strange, with the finger holding the trigger seemingly clipping through the gun. Take a look for yourself below.
Back in October, VP General Manager of Dice and Criterion told BBC Newsbeat that players “won’t see anything made by GenAI within Battlefield 6“, despite the technology being “very seducing”. If sticker is made by generative AI as it appears to be, questions linger as to how much other artwork in-game could be AI-generated, including those offered in purchasable bundles. We’ve reached out to EA for comment on this story, and will update this article should we hear back.
What do you make of the Winter Warning sticker in Battlefield 6? Do you believe it’s AI-generated? Let us in the comments or on social media, and keep your eyes on GameObserver for more proudly human-only gaming coverage.
