UbisoftAnnounceUbisoft unveiled a new game prototype project called "Teammates," showcasing how generative AI technology can enable NPC teammates in games to not only understand natural language voice commands but also comprehend visual context. This project builds upon a previous demonstration by Ubisoft in collaboration with NVIDIA in 2024."Neo NPCs" technologyBuilding upon the existing foundation, but with an even greater level of interactive complexity, it is currently undergoing closed testing by "hundreds of players".
AI teammates can understand tactics and see cover: They possess visual perception.
Although defined as an "experimental research project," Teammates possesses a complete first-person shooter (FPS) gameplay concept. Players take on the role of a resistance member in a dystopian future, commanding AI teammates to infiltrate enemy camps and rescue their comrades.
The project features three unique AI characters:
• Jaspar:An AI assistant not only knows the game's lore, but also has the ability to "break the fourth wall," allowing it to adjust game settings in real time and guide players through the onboarding process.
• Pablo and Sofia:The game features physical robot characters that can fight under the player's command.
The most crucial breakthrough lies in the AI's "visual awareness." When the player gives the command "hide behind that barrel," the AI character analyzes the direction the player is looking and moves to the correct position to provide cover.
Experimental study of diverse personalities: "Bad Cat and Good Boy"
To make the interaction more engaging, Ubisoft is also experimenting with giving the AI different personality traits. While the current AI characters are described as being "overly chatty," the developers are experimenting with allowing players to choose different personality combinations, such as an option called "Bad Cat and Good Boy," which can directly change how the character expresses and responds.
Rémi Labory, Director of Data and AI at Ubisoft, stated, "Player input can shape a character's reactions in real time, which is something that traditional development methods cannot achieve."
The technology is already compatible with Ubisoft's mainstream engines and may be introduced into AAA titles in the future.
Although Teammates is currently only a prototype, its underlying technology has enormous potential for application. Ubisoft has hinted that the AI middleware developed for this project is already compatible with its two major game engines: Snowdrop (The Division, Avatar) and Anvil (Assassin's Creed).
This means that this AI teammate system, which can understand voice and visual contexts, is very likely to be officially introduced into Ubisoft's AAA games in the future, thereby changing the interactive experience of single-player games.
