The company debuted its Neo NPCs prototype<\/a> in March 2024, and has since doubled down on generative AI to create its first playable experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n “In the initial prototype from 2024, Neo NPCs displayed novel cognitive and natural language abilities but remained in a static environment. Teammates now puts our Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in a more traditional gameplay setting\u2014a first-person shooter\u2014with new advanced AI features that allow them to respond dynamically to real-time voice commands and adapt their behavior to each situation, revealing distinct personalities along the way,” reads a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related:Are Roblox and Discord protected from civil liability under Section 230?<\/a><\/p>\n “From mission briefings to battlefield commands, Teammates react naturally, adapting to players\u2019 strategies, moods and even personal slang, for an experience that feels unprecedentedly responsive. Powered by Ubisoft’s unique technology stack, they can interpret player intent and tone, as well as environmental cues to generate fluid, context-aware reactions, deepening immersion and player agency.”<\/p>\n The company explained Teammates was built by a team of 80 people and leverages Google Gemini in combination with in-house middleware. For context, the company had roughly 25 employees working on generative AI experiments when Neo NPCs were unveiled last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teammates runs on the company’s proprietary Snowdrop game engine, which powers many of its triple-A projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking to press during yesterday’s briefing, Ubisoft’s director of generative AI gameplay, Xavier Manzanares, said the team is determined to “put aside the buzzword ‘GenAI'” by producing experiences that impact players in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n Teammates is what Ubisoft hopes will be a proof-of-concept that highlights how the divisive technology, which is often pushed by executives but has seemingly yet to win the affections of many rank-and-file developers<\/a>. The experiment introduces a new in-game companion dubbed Jaspar, a quippy personal assistant (not too dissimilar to Siri) that can engage in conversation with players at the push of a button.<\/p>\n Related:Roblox CEO clashes with reporters when pressed about child safety<\/a><\/p>\n “Jaspar recognizes the player by name, helps with onboarding, understands the game\u2019s lore, and can highlight threats or key objects in the environment. He can remind players of mission objectives, suggest next steps, and generally act as a tactical guide when they are unsure what to do next,” explained Ubisoft.<\/p>\n “With the ability to manage HUD elements, open menus and control settings, Jaspar can adjust the player interface on the fly, adapting for color blindness or modifying visual elements. These new agentic capabilities already show strong potential for improving accessibility and personalization in future games.”<\/p>\n “If this is something that could be done better with a controller, let’s scrap it”<\/p>\n During our hands-on time with Teammates, we successfully used Jaspar to minimize HUD elements, highlight enemies to assist with targeting, break down mission briefings, and locate mission objectives\u2014all using fairly casual voice commands.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teammates also features two NPC allies called Pablo and Sophia that can be directed to assist with combat, puzzle solving, and more. Ubisoft was keen to highlight how all of its GenAI-powered characters are capable of responding to contextual voice commands that don’t require players to deliver instructions in painstakingly precise detail.<\/p>\n
![\"Pablo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/More_about_Pablo.png\" "\\"Pablo")
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