Battlefield 6 Accused of Selling Gen AI Add-Ons, Gamers Fuming

Another day, another AI-generated video game controversy, but this time, players are taking aim at EA and Battlefield 6 for what appears to be blatant use of AI-generated artwork featured in its storefront.

December is the gift that just keeps on giving, except that in this case the gift is equivalent to an AI-generated bag of coal, and said gift will cost you roughly £8.99 to purchase.

Every single day in the last two weeks seems to have generated some form of new AI video game controversy.

Sandfall Interactive were just stripped of an award for their use of AI-generated placeholder assets in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios was criticised for CEO Swen Vincke’s comments about using AI in the development process of their upcoming game Divinity, and Blue Prince developer Dogubomb were forced to deny blatantly under-researched and baseless accusations of AI use in their game following an article from The Escapist.

The one thing that all of these stories have in common is that gamers online have consistently and rather angrily admonished the use of any AI-generated usage in video games, proving that any developer or publisher that chooses to incorporate it into their games moving forward is severely out of touch with what the majority of consumers want.

Oh, hey, speaking of, Electronic Arts 100% just shoehorned some AI-generated artwork into Battlefield 6 that costs real money to purchase! I love living in the future, it’s so awesome and great!

The Winter Warning Battlefield 6 artwork in question, Electronic Arts

As detailed in a post over on the r/gaming subreddit, EA has been caught slipping following the release of the new “Winter Warning” player card sticker in Battlefield 6.

The artwork features a rifle with two barrels, a random piece of indiscernible nonsense near the scope, and a stubby-looking trigger finger.

Also, by the way, this costs 900 “Battlefield Coins” to purchase. For context, 1,100 Battlefield Coins will set you back roughly £8.99. The game costs £59.99, in case you were wondering.

Since the story started gaining traction, Battlefield 6 players have dug up a story from the BBC back in October, in which Battlefield Studios’ Rebecka Coutaz outright stated that no AI-generated content would feature in Battlefield 6.

Even worse still, users over on the r/Battlefield subreddit believe that this isn’t a one-off instance, and that almost every single sticker in Battlefield 6 has been AI-generated.

The game is estimated to have sold more than 20 million copies so far, so the suspected use of AI compared to the revenue made in sales isn't going down to well.