Battlefield 6 Gets Slammed For Adding AI-Generated Cosmetics
Developers' earlier promise that there won't be anything made by AI in BF6 appears to have failed the test of time.
As I'm sure you've also noticed, the past month or so has well and truly reignited the AI vs. anti-AI confrontation, and in doing so has left many people uncertain about where they actually stand on this issue.
What was more or less a black-and-white conflict just a year ago has now fractured into thousands of shades of gray, with the rise of "ethical AI," several prominent instances of AI use the gaming community has largely tolerated, and video game award ceremonies revoking winners' medals over a placeholder AI texture that was removed five days after launch all underscoring that this debate no longer has clear heroes or villains.
Naturally, that uncertainty around the subject – along with studios like Larian, Sandfall, Embark, and 11 bit using AI with very little to no backlash – hasn't gone unnoticed by other game companies, who now seem to be poking and prodding to see where the fine line lies between being dismissed as AI-slop and being crowned Game of the Year.
One such company appears to be Electronic Arts, whose highly acclaimed 2025 FPS Battlefield 6 was recently slammed for purportedly introducing a number of AI-generated cosmetics in the latest update.
As noticed by numerous players over the past weekend, the game now features multiple stickers and charms that, as one Reddit user succinctly put it, "don't really pass the vibe check."
A double-barrel assault rifle that breaks basic gunsmithing rules, a bear that can't decide whether it should have four or five talons, a fish skeleton made of shark jaws, inconsistent anatomy, general weirdness – all of this has led many to believe these weren't mere mistakes from a tired artist eager for a Christmas break, but rather AI-generated content Battlefield 6 deliberately included to test the community's reaction and make a quick buck had gamers let it slide.
Gamers, however, hadn't let it slide, with the title facing criticism online and its creators urged to remove the questionable cosmetics immediately. The situation was further complicated by an October interview with DICE VP and General Manager Rebecka Coutaz, in which she stated there would be no AI-generated content in Battlefield 6 – a promise with an incredibly short lifespan, assuming the assets in question were indeed produced by a machine.
That said, while most were indeed displeased by the situation, for many it came as no surprise at all. In fact, the addition of AI content to BF6 seemed inevitable for them, given who owns the Battlefield franchise.
Since early 2024, Electronic Arts and its CEO Andrew Wilson have repeatedly praised generative AI, claiming it would improve efficiency, presenting concepts of AI tools, saying that developers feel a "hunger" to use generative AI – a statement EA developers themselves strongly disagree with – and even partnering with Stability AI just two months ago.
Taking this background into account, the notion that BF6 was destined to be marred by poorly made AI assets starts to seem more plausible, raising the question of why it happened now, amid the freshly reignited debate over whether generative AI is God's gift or the hellspawn of Satan.
Was it because EA's new overlords are pushing for AI adoption? Was it indeed meant to gauge players' reactions? Was it simply planned months in advance, and EA's marketing team just ignored the debate altogether? Unfortunately, only Electronic Arts knows for sure, and good luck getting that company to discuss its debatable decisions.
Electronic Arts
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