Amidst All Its Problems, Ubisoft Plans to Pour Even More Money Into Generative AI

Call it a "major organizational, operational, and portfolio reset," or the biggest step to date on the road to the complete annihilation of a once-beloved game studio that has burned through all its goodwill and is now bleeding cash – it doesn't matter – the fact remains that, according to the info shared in its latest announcement, Ubisoft is currently undergoing the biggest turmoil in its 40-year history.

Seven games – including the rumored Black Flag remake – delayed, six games – The Sands of Time remake among them – canceled, more layoffs incoming, all major IPs spread across five "creative houses" operating in a manner similar to Ubisoft's Tencent deal – read, a third-party company gaining a say in Ubisoft's biggest franchises and effectively "owning" parts of them – projected losses in the millions: no matter how you slice it, the company has now effectively admitted it's in serious trouble, because let's be honest here, you don't do all those things listed above if your coffers are full and everything is sunshine and rainbows.

And yet, despite the figurative quagmire of issues the Ozymandias of the gaming world has now found itself in, the company has also revealed it still aims to pursue the Next Big Thing – artificial intelligence, naturally – saying it plans to continue pouring cash into the controversial technology.

As stated in a blink-and-you-miss-it line of the official statement, the new operating model Ubisoft is adopting is centered on open-world adventures and GaaS experiences, which it plans to support, among other things, with "accelerated investments" into generative AI, meaning not only that it isn't halting its gen-AI initiatives, but that it's actively doubling down on them.

As if that weren't weird enough, Ubisoft added that the AI they want to waste more Benjamins on will be "player-facing" – implying it will appear as in-game AI slop like visuals and writing – rather than the behind-the-scenes technical application of AI, which admittedly can benefit both players and developers.

With generative AI – particularly the type Ubisoft is pushing – still largely rejected by the gaming community, and the company finding itself in a pickle to rival all pickles partly because of its fractured relationship with that same community, their decision to further increase investment into the tech does indeed come off as a tad odd. Sure, it might score some good-boy points with investors who see the letters "A" and "I" together and get Looney Tunes dollar-sign eyes, but will it matter if even more gamers decide to never spend a dime on Ubisoft games again? I guess only time can tell for certain.

And what do you think about Ubisoft's plans to continue spending its cash on AI? Will it help the company in the long-run, or will it only accelerate its now-undeniable demise? Leave your thoughts down in the comments!

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