Ubisoft seemingly wants to call its new push into genAI gaming “Motherbrain,” after the rogue AI intelligence that tries to weaponize the titular Metroids in Nintendo’s long-running sci-fi horror series. That’s according to a report from Game File which recently discovered a handful of trademark applications filed by the Assassin’s Creed publisher that all use the term to refer to AI projects.
One Motherbrain trademark filing refers to “downloadable computer software using artificial intelligence (AI) for creating video games and interactive content,” while another lists “Research, design, and development of software using artificial intelligence; Artificial intelligence as a service (AIAAS) featuring software using artificial intelligence for analyzing data and interacting with humans.”
Game File reports that the term is currently being used inside Ubisoft to refer to its various AI initiatives internally. There doesn’t yet appear to be any public messaging that references the term. While the nod to Metroid might be a secret, the company hasn’t been shy about publicizing its individual attempts to apply LLMs (large language models) to gaming.
Ubisoft announced GhostWriter back in 2023, an AI tool to help writers for Far Cry and other tentpole franchises generate NPC dialogue. It announced its Neo NPC initiative a year later, an attempt to leverage AI to create more dynamic and engaging side characters. It followed all this up last year with its “first playable generative AI research project,” called Teammates. It was a small demo that played like a Ghost Recon game with AI-voiced allies who could react in real time to whatever the player was saying.
“Games of tomorrow will listen, understand, and react to players far more than today, and our research gives a glimpse of what adaptive, generative play could add on top of proven game systems,” Ubisoft director of GenAI gameplay Xavier Manzanares told Variety at the time.
GenAI has also slipped into Ubisoft’s output in less intentional ways, too. Anno 117: Pax Romana was one of many games over the last couple of years that was seemingly caught incorporating AI-generated mistakes into artwork that appeared in the final game. The offending visual artifacts were eventually removed.
Motherbain is indeed a cool-sounding name for a bunch of AI projects. Way cooler than Slopbrain.
