Blizzard Accused Of Using AI-Generated Artwork For Diablo Immortal x Hearthstone Collab

u/Ipyreable noticed the following oddities: a card back that looks like the Hearthstone board for some reason, bread without a plate, the player on the left having a mutant ear, that same player having a mirrored card in hand, the player on the right holding cards with card backs that are also mirrored, the player on the right’s headpiece melting into their skin, and more. The “artwork” in question was posted on Diablo Immortal’s Twitter page and is still up at the time of this writing.

As previously mentioned, this isn’t the first time that Blizzard has been accused of AI artwork, with data miners previously discovering that an upcoming Hearthstone skin appeared to have been created with generative AI. In that instance, Blizzard investigated the claims and removed the skin in question, but didn’t comment on whether AI was used to create it.

In 2023, a report by The New York Times found that Blizzard had created a new generative AI tool called Blizzard Diffusion, with the studio’s chief design officer, Allen Adham, writing in a company email that it could be used to create concept art for game environments, characters, cosmetics, NPC dialogue, coding, voice acting, and more.

Blizzard’s apparent use of AI would also seem to fit right into the plans of their parent company, Microsoft. After laying off more than 9,000 employees, the company announced an $80 billion investment in AI data centers. At King, another Microsoft subsidiary, employees claimed that they are going to be replaced by a generative AI that they helped train. And after Microsoft Company President Brad Smith suggested that this kind of “adaptation” to AI is necessary for its workers going forward, it seems we haven’t heard the last of these kinds of stories.