'Black Ops 7' Is Full of AI Slop, Because Your €80 Means Nothing to Activision
It's launch day, and it turns out our 80 Euros paid for a whole lot of nothing.
I'm not even surprised, I'm just... tired. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is out, and it is absolutely infested with AI-generated art. We all saw the signs. Modern Warfare 3 had that AI calling card in a $15 bundle. Last year, Black Ops 6 gave us that nightmare-fuel zombie Santa with six fingers.
That was the test. Now, the "shame gloves are off," and Activision is just shoving this machine-generated up-chuck right in our faces.
What €80 Gets You: A Prompt-Generated Mess
I'm looking at this stuff, and it's everywhere. This isn't just one or two assets. We're talking in-game posters, smeared textures, and dozens of Calling Cards.
They're not even good. It's that same "Ghibli-style" prompt-gunk we all got sick of earlier this year. One of the most damning examples is a card called "Reeled In," which shows a knight... and two villagers... reeling in a fish that's eating his helmet? It's a nonsensical, soulless mess.
And Activision isn't even hiding it. Their own Steam page has a disclaimer admitting they "use generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets".
Even Your Bragging Rights Are Fake
This is the part that really gets me. It's not just optional cosmetic crap. The rewards are fake.
The "ultimate reward" for beating the campaign's endgame? AI art.
The Prestige icons? The one thing players grind hundreds of hours for? They reek of AI. All those smeared details, over-designed lines, and weird inconsistencies. Your crème de la crème achievement, your ultimate bragging right, was farted out by a machine.
What the Hell Are We Even Paying For?
Let's be very clear. This is Activision. This is the Call of Duty franchise. Black Ops 6 made over a billion dollars in 10 days. This isn't some poor indie dev who can't draw. This is a mega-corporation charging us €80 for a full-price game and then cutting out the artists to save a buck.
When I pay that much for a game, I'm paying for the human creativity that went into it. I'm paying for the artists, the designers, the writers.
But with this? What am I paying for? I'm paying for an intern to type "knight fishing Ghibli-style" into a prompt. As the source article perfectly put it, "You used to be paying for this art, now you’re paying for nothing, but you’re still paying."
We are being ripped off, plain and simple.