Ubisoft ‘Motherbrain’ genAI initiative used to create new game ideas says rumour

Ubisoft knows Mother Brain was a villain in the Metroid games, right? (Nintendo/Wikipedia) A new report claims Ubisoft sees generative AI as an important pillar for the company’s future, while Capcom uses the technology in a more restrained manner. Any time a new trend pops up in the video game space, you can expect Ubisoft to be among the first to join in, no matter how unpopular it is. It’s done this with live service games, blockchain technology, and NFTs, so it’s no surprise the company has been eager to embrace AI in games, more specifically generative AI. Ubisoft already announced an AI writing tool in 2023 – one it swore it wouldn’t use to replace writers – and now it’s reportedly plotting to implement genAI across all its video game output. Murmurs of Ubisoft’s AI plans spread last week thanks to a newly discovered trademark for something called Motherbrain. The company itself has yet to comment on it but a report by Insider Gaming claims to have shed some light on the matter. According to an internal announcement shared across Ubisoft, Motherbrain is described as ‘a global entity dedicated to supporting gameplay innovation across the group.’ Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. So, rather than a newly built AI tool, it sounds like Motherbrain is more of an initiative to push and innovate on genAI technology: ‘The team [Motherbrain] will continue to develop proprietary AI technology and middleware dedicated to generative gameplay, which will serve as a shared foundation across our studios.’ It’s not clear if the name is a deliberate reference to the character of Mother Brain from Nintendo’s Metroid games, which is itself an AI supercomputer made to assist her creators but which ultimately kills them all and threatens the safety of the entire galaxy. The report adds that Motherbrain will be spearheaded by Xavier Manzanares, who served as lead producer on the excellent Mario + Rabbids games at Ubisoft Milan but has since moved on to become R&D director and producer for ‘player facing generative AI.’ Considering sources told Insider Gaming that genAI is already being used across all stages of game development and Motherbrain is being billed as helping ‘accelerate gameplay innovation,’ but don’t be surprised if a future Assassin’s Creed game winds up having entire gameplay systems or graphics primarily designed by AI. It’s disappointing but not wholly surprising news. Ubisoft isn’t exactly in the healthiest spot at the moment, as evidenced by its need to be bailed out by Tencent last year and the fact it cancelled no less than six games earlier this year. Ubisoft also hyped up plans for genAI as part of a wider restructuring, which makes it seem like the company has figured it’d be easier and more profitable to just get AI to make video games, instead of the thousands of developers it still employs. In related news, Capcom has also promised further use of AI and will be incorporating it into its RE Engine, according to a report by Japanese outlet GameBiz. However, its wording is extremely vague and although it’s quoted as describing an ‘AI-generation game engine,’ it only talks about improving efficiency and ‘streamlining future development.’ There’s no implicit mention of generative AI and Capcom has in the past said it has no interest in incorporating AI-made assets into games. So, a generous reading is that Capcom is referring to long established and more benign AI tools, that can help speed up development and cut down time spent on monotonous tasks. One of the problems with modern AI tech is that it is often spoken of in blanket terms, making it very easy for people to falsely assume any AI tech is generative when that’s not the case. Plus, it’s not uncommon for companies to offer vague promises of experimenting with new tech just to appease investors. Hopefully this means Resident Evil 10 won’t be the result of genAI development (Capcom) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: PS6 to launch with wave of retro revivals including Sly Cooper and Killzone Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: Is 2026 really the best year ever for video games? Arrow MORE: AI video of dead road rage victim used in court to deliver message to killer GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.