July 22, 2025
A Shadow Looms Over Narrative Design
Ubisoft recently confirmed that it is using artificial intelligence to assist in writing non-playable character (NPC) dialogue for its upcoming title Assassin’s Creed Shadows. While the company insists human writers remain in charge of the core narrative, the announcement has sparked intense debate throughout the gaming community and creative industry. Are we witnessing the evolution of storytelling in games—or its commoditization?
The Details: What Ubisoft Said
During a July developer deep-dive, Ubisoft revealed their internal tool, Ghostwriter, is being used to help generate “barks”—short, reactive NPC lines like greetings, warnings, or reactions to player actions. Rather than writing each bark line from scratch, narrative designers can now input character context and let the AI provide variants, which the writer then edits or curates.
Ubisoft’s argument: it saves time and gives writers more bandwidth to focus on major plotlines and character arcs. But the optics are tricky, especially in an industry still reckoning with layoffs, unionization efforts, and increasing concern about AI’s impact on creative jobs.
The Backlash: “This Isn’t Innovation—It’s Erosion”
The reaction online has been divided. Some developers and fans see this as a smart evolution of tools—comparing it to using procedural generation for world-building or AI-assisted animation. But others view it as a dangerous precedent that could push out talented writers and dilute the emotional resonance of NPC interactions.
Award-winning game writer Sam Maggs tweeted, “Barks are how you worldbuild, how you inject personality into your setting. They’re not filler—they’re flavor. Replacing that with machine noise is not innovation. It’s erosion.”
Why This Matters
The Assassin’s Creed series has always walked a fine line between epic narrative and open-world repetition. With Shadows, set in feudal Japan and promising two protagonists with different paths and playstyles, expectations are sky-high. Players want depth. They want meaning. Will AI dialogue affect immersion?
At the heart of this debate is a larger question: What makes games memorable? Is it the realistic visuals, the combat mechanics—or the way a scared NPC stammers when you draw your sword in a quiet village?
We’ve seen this issue before in film, music, and journalism. Now, the creative soul of game development is under the microscope.
What Comes Next?
Ubisoft is unlikely to walk back their use of AI, but the blowback could influence how transparently other studios approach similar tools. Expect more companies to clarify where AI is being used, and for players—and creatives—to continue demanding accountability and authenticity.
Game writers’ unions have also begun to weigh in, calling for protections and clearer crediting systems to ensure human creativity isn’t erased by machine outputs.
Final Thoughts
Technology and creativity are always in tension. The best games come from teams that know how to use tools without sacrificing voice, vision, or human heart. Ubisoft may be trying to speed up production, but they’ll need to prove that Assassin’s Creed Shadows hasn’t lost its soul along the way.
Until then, gamers—and writers—will be watching.
What do you think about AI being used to write game dialogue? Is it a helpful tool or a creative shortcut? Let us know in the comments below.
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