Ubisoft says AI teammates will make the game more engaging and accessible, but will players want them?

The use of AI in game development is highly controversial, but Ubisoft is experimenting with generative AI for players. A new short playable experience in closed testing aimed at gamers aims to explore how adaptive generative AI-driven gameplay and responsive characters can shape a new generation of more interactive games.

Last year’s early prototype Neo NPCs were already showing cognitive and natural language abilities, but non-playable characters remained static environments. Now, the same team has developed Teammates. It places AI-driven NPCs in the more traditional gameplay environment of a first-person shooter, dynamically responding to real-time voice commands and adapting their behavior to different situations, revealing unique personalities in doing so.

Ubisoft says teammates will react naturally in a variety of situations. From mission briefings to battlefield commands, you’ll need to adapt to your players’ strategies, moods, and even personal slang. The idea is that it can interpret player intent, tone, and environmental cues to generate fluid, situation-aware responses.

“This is about experimenting with a completely new way of creating interactive stories,” said Virginie Mosser, the project’s narrative director at Ubisoft. “Our role is to give meaning to the AI, tell a story, and make sure logic doesn’t replace the soul. We designed Teammates to leave space for player creativity and find a balance between emotion and unpredictability.”

In addition to Teammates, Ubisoft has introduced a new in-game personal assistant called Jaspar. Designed to support players through missions, it can recognize players by name, assist with onboarding, understand game lore, and highlight threats and important objects in the environment. AI companions can also remind players of mission objectives, suggest next steps, and generally act as tactical guides, Ubisoft said.