French publisher Ubisoft has unveiled an R&D experiment called ‘Teammates‘ that leverages generative AI technology to turn NPCs into what it calls “living companions.”
During a behind-closed-doors briefing at Ubisoft’s Paris studio attended by Game Developer, Ubisoft claimed the bitesized experience is an example of how its development teams will be “pioneering the future of generative play.”
Ubisoft is currently accelerating research and development in player-facing generative AI, having previously used the nascent technology to create Neo NPCs—described by the publisher as interactive characters, not programs—in tandem with Nvidia.
The company debuted its Neo NPCs prototype in March 2024, and has since doubled down on generative AI to create its first playable experience.
“In the initial prototype from 2024, Neo NPCs displayed novel cognitive and natural language abilities but remained in a static environment. Teammates now puts our Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in a more traditional gameplay setting—a first-person shooter—with new advanced AI features that allow them to respond dynamically to real-time voice commands and adapt their behavior to each situation, revealing distinct personalities along the way,” reads a press release.
“From mission briefings to battlefield commands, Teammates react naturally, adapting to players’ strategies, moods and even personal slang, for an experience that feels unprecedentedly responsive. Powered by Ubisoft’s unique technology stack, they can interpret player intent and tone, as well as environmental cues to generate fluid, context-aware reactions, deepening immersion and player agency.”
The company explained Teammates was built by a team of 80 people and leverages Google Gemini in combination with in-house middleware. For context, the company had roughly 25 employees working on generative AI experiments when Neo NPCs were unveiled last year.
Teammates runs on the company’s proprietary Snowdrop game engine, which powers many of its triple-A projects.
Speaking to press during yesterday’s briefing, Ubisoft’s director of generative AI gameplay, Xavier Manzanares, said the team is determined to “put aside the buzzword ‘GenAI'” by producing experiences that impact players in meaningful ways.
Teammates is what Ubisoft hopes will be a proof-of-concept that highlights how the divisive technology, which is often pushed by executives but has seemingly yet to win the affections of many rank-and-file developers. The experiment introduces a new in-game companion dubbed Jaspar, a quippy personal assistant (not too dissimilar to Siri) that can engage in conversation with players at the push of a button.
“Jaspar recognizes the player by name, helps with onboarding, understands the game’s lore, and can highlight threats or key objects in the environment. He can remind players of mission objectives, suggest next steps, and generally act as a tactical guide when they are unsure what to do next,” explained Ubisoft.
“With the ability to manage HUD elements, open menus and control settings, Jaspar can adjust the player interface on the fly, adapting for color blindness or modifying visual elements. These new agentic capabilities already show strong potential for improving accessibility and personalization in future games.”
“If this is something that could be done better with a controller, let’s scrap it”
During our hands-on time with Teammates, we successfully used Jaspar to minimize HUD elements, highlight enemies to assist with targeting, break down mission briefings, and locate mission objectives—all using fairly casual voice commands.
Teammates also features two NPC allies called Pablo and Sophia that can be directed to assist with combat, puzzle solving, and more. Ubisoft was keen to highlight how all of its GenAI-powered characters are capable of responding to contextual voice commands that don’t require players to deliver instructions in painstakingly precise detail.
For instance, when tasked with completing a puzzle that required Pablo and Sophia to stand on two separate pressure plates, I was able to tell Pablo to “stand on the plate on the left” before asking Sophia to “handle the other one.” Both instructions were understood.
It was even possible to ask Pablo and Sofia to congratulate each other after a successful combat excursion, while Jaspar actively seeks to engage in offbeat conversation with players throughout the experiment.
“We use behavior trees, like we did in our games in the past, and then we add a layer with our LLM to take decisions based on this. So, we control design-wise what they can say and do, but then it’s up to the LLM to decide based on the context how it should be done. […] It’s about reasoning, what is the state of the game, and then acting,” said Manzanares, discussing how those context-based actions unfold.
The pressure plate test / Image via Ubisoft
Manzanares said the aim with Teammates wasn’t to create a video game or a demo, but to instead build something people would “feel” as players, before handing it over to creative directors and internal teams within Ubisoft in an effort to showcase the apparent potential of generative AI.
“It’s all about redefining the way you interact with games thanks to your voice. Thanks to the commands you give to your teammates or AI companion, do you feel better? Do you feel like a leader? Do you feel more than what you could feel using a controller? That was the objective,” Manzanares continued.
“Why? Because we want to know as soon as possible what works and what doesn’t work. If this is something that could be done better with a controller, let’s scrap it. Let’s not invest time. We don’t have the time. Let’s not invest time in things that do not matter.”
Manzanares acknowledged the experiment was still “rough around the edges,” but said the core aim was to build something from scratch that showcases interactive gameplay potential.
Recent comments from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot indicate the company is betting big on that potential becoming reality.
Discussing the company’s AI plans on an earnings call earlier today (as transcribed by Game File), the long-serving exec said Ubisoft is taking huge steps in applying generative AI to “high-value use cases that bring tangible benefits to our players and teams.”
Guillemot suggested the impact of generative AI on video games will be comparable to the shift to 3D, and confirmed Ubisoft hopes to become a leader in the space.
“On the player experience side, we are continuing to make progress on groundbreaking player-facing generative AI applications, building on our Neo NPCs announcements in 2024. We have already advanced from prototyping to player reality, and we are looking forward to sharing more before the end of the year,” he explained.
“On the production side, we now have teams in all our studios and offices embracing this new technology and constantly exploring new use cases in programming, art and overall game quality.”
Game Developer attended Ubisoft’s press event in Paris with travel and accommodation provided by the French publisher.