It seems work and play are synonymous with each other in Ubisoft, as the game studio's artificial intelligence (AI) wing combines scientific research with gaming.
Ubisoft, publisher and developer of some of the most popular AAA gaming franchises like "Assassin's Creed" and the Tom Clancy games, is proud to present its developmental AI department. The new AI sector of their game studio is called La Forge and despite dedicating its resources for the development of the new technological trend, it does not seem to be competing with tech industry AI giants like NVIDIA, Intel, or Tesla.
Instead, Ubisoft is placed comfortably between gaming and technological advancement, where they intend to initiate the development of new and improved AI systems for video games while simultaneously working on breakthroughs, which they hope scientists can use in future AI designs in fields other than gaming.
"Games drive innovation, and innovation drives games. We started working with academics a while ago, as early as 2011, on how to combine AI with game ecosystem," said Yves Jacquier, head of the La Forge project at Ubisoft Montreal.
Ubisoft then looked to one of its latest AAA games, "Watch Dogs 2," as a good example of their work having multiple purposes. In the said game, the developers have developed an AI for guided cars and pedestrians to navigate a realistic urban environment, which is a digital replica of the city of San Francisco. This could then be used by scientists as a platform for the development of autonomous and self-driving cars in the real world, which could then be used again to improve in-game AI.
Other applications include human-like movements and animations for both graphics and robotics, along with monitoring online communities for toxic behavior.
At the moment, La Forge is still an early notion and has not yet taken off, but Ubisoft remains optimistic that both sides will remain interested.
