Blizzard patents AI-generated graphics that could be used in new games

A new Blizzard patent indicates that the company is looking to incorporate AI graphics into the development of new games.

Artificial Intelligence has been around for decades, but its advancement in the last few years has fascinated the world. It’s also caught the attention of gaming devs, including behemoth Blizzard, as the company has patented a new type of technology that utilizes AI to create graphics.

With the likes of Bing AI and ChatGPT making headlines, this development should actually come as no surprise. Especially with World of Warcraft director Ion Hazzikostas hopping onto ChatGPT for some answers for future WoW content.

But Blizzard could be looking to use AI more seriously if their new patent is anything to go by.

Blizzard patent targets the use of AI graphics

As reported by GameRant, Blizzard is presumably looking for faster and more efficient ways to oversee game development. Their new patent was first registered on Dec 23, 2022, and was made public knowledge on April 27, 2023.

It’s looking to utilize more structured and accurate AI technology to facilitate the generation of AI-created graphics. The patent essentially means that Blizzard wants to feed the AI with pre-existing images and instruct the system to create new images in the same vein as the art style presented.

Blizzard Entertainment

In principle, the concept is solid and would be a great time-saver for the company. However, the discourse surrounding AI media is quite negative as there are many lawsuits pertaining to the copyright of AI-generated images.

If the presence of human input and direct, hands-on effort with regard to an AI image cannot be justified or argued, then the act of copyrighting can be rejected. Given that the practice of AI-generated images and using them in media is still in its relative infancy, it could be a while until these small details are fully ironed out.

At the end of the day, a Tiktok AI face filter is one thing, but big-time AAA games utilizing this technology are quite different. It’s entirely feasible that many other developers will follow suit and embrace the use of similar strategies in creating games.

With Diablo 4 on the horizon and Overwatch 2 enjoying lots of success, we could eventually see a Blizzard game fully embracing the use of AI-generated materials.