Ubisoft is internally calling its latest generative-AI initiative ‘Motherbrain’ – you know, like the evil supercomputer turned gross brain-in-a-jar monster from Nintendo’s Metroid series – according to trademarks filed by the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry publisher.
As first reported on by The Game File and spotted by Kotaku, a bunch of recent trademark applications use the definitely-not-ominous Motherbrain term to refer to the company’s various gen-AI plans.
According to the report, one trademark makes mention of a “downloadable computer software using artificial intelligence (AI) for creat ing video games and interactive content.” Another refers to an AI service used for both “analyzing data and interacting with humans,” and the research and design of “software using artificial intelligence.”
Ubisoft hasn’t mentioned Motherbrain to the public just yet. The term is seemingly only being used inside of the publisher’s walls, but Ubisoft’s been pretty openly enthusiastic about the controversial tech and its possible applications in game development for a while.
Back in 2023, Ubisoft unveiled a gen-AI ghostwriting tool – elegantly named Ghostwriter – that would supposedly help game developers come up with background dialogue for in-game NPCs. Late last year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot claimed generative AI had rolled out across the entire company and called it a “revolution” on the same scale as the jump from 2D to 3D games. And, just this summer, the publisher said it was “accelerating” investment into Teammates, a shooter billed as Ubisoft’s “first playable generative AI experience.”
Will the initiative eventually transform into a spiky-haired, one-eyed brain? Only time will tell.
This all comes after Ubisoft closed two studios, canned six projects and laid off developers as part of its so-called major restructuring in January of this year. A few months back, the publisher shut down another pair of studios and restructured a third in a move that also cut around 380 jobs.