Call of Duty League team under fire for using AI to announce new roster
The Vegas Eternal have announced their new Call of Duty League roster. The method they chose caused a large controversy in the esports community.
13th Nov 2023 12:40
Vegas Legion | Activision Blizzard
Call of Duty League team under fire for using AI to announce new roster
The Vegas Eternal have announced their new Call of Duty League roster. The method they chose caused a large controversy in the esports community.
13th Nov 2023 12:40
Vegas Legion | Activision Blizzard
The Call of Duty League franchise Las Vegas Legion has come under fire for using AI-generated images of its players to officially announce their roster on social media.
Several community members, including the former content lead for the sister team Vegas Eternal, Tee Lily Hewitt, who also worked on the Vegas Legion, as well as a pro player for the team, Dillon "Attach" Price have spoken out about the matter.
Not so subtly AI-generated
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With the new Call of Duty League season around the corner, various teams across the scene have announced their rosters. A little late to the party, the Vegas Legion finally also shared their plans, announcing the signing of Dylan "Nero" Koch, Evan "Purj", Eli "Standy" Bentz, and Attach.
Given that player announcements rank among the peak points of attention for each respective team each season, organisations across the esports industry usually hire creatives to produce various forms of quality media for their roster rollout.
The Vegas Eternal appear to have taken a different route, allegedly having used an AI engine to generate the images of their players. Some of the generation errors got the likeness of the players very wrong, showing Attach wearing earrings or plugs despite not even having ear holes.
Attach commented on the matter himself, acknowledging the mishap with "love the earrings"Â in a reply to the announcement Tweet.Â
Community reactionsÂ
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As the replies and quotes rolled in, Tee Lily Hewitt also commented on the matter, writing: "So in the end ai really did take my job."
The graphic designer in and around the Activision Blizzard franchise systems Call of Duty and Overwatch League had previously worked for the agency Level99, contracted to work on the Paris/Vegas Eternal as well as the Legion before parting ways in June.Â
"It's just upsetting that nobody gains anything from this, no artist or designer gets to leave their mark in the CDL. There's just an AI stain instead,"Â she tweeted in response.
"Please hire actual creatives, there are so many who would have loved this opportunity and put their heart into this team," she continued. Attach himself also commented on the AI-generated graphics, acknowledging "AI pics is crazy," while sending a message that he's still looking forward to competing during the season.
More criticism poured in from various parts of the industry, not least from other franchises in the CDL. Seattle Surge outright tweeted a picture of AI-generated trash cans, with the caption, "Typed in @LasVegasLegion in an AI generator and this is what I got."
C0ntact gaming, the parent company of the Vegas Legion had signalled that it was pulling out of its esports ventures, recently letting go of its entire Overwatch League roster and staff amid the cancellation of the franchise league. Moreover, its website c0ntact.gg is no longer online at this time.Â
About The Author
Sascha Heinisch
Sascha "Yiska" Heinisch is a Senior Esports Journalist at GGRecon. He's been creating content in esports for over 10 years, starting with Warcraft 3.
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