EA and Stability AI partnership includes generating full 3D worlds from a series of prompts

"Electronic Arts is excited to announce a partnership with Stability AI to co-develop transformative AI models, tools, and workflows that empower our artists, designers, and developers to reimagine how content is built," the official announcement reads.

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Will the live service Battlefield 6 leverage EA and Stability AI's new AI tools? Image credit: EA.

As generative AI becomes a core part of workflows everywhere, EA and Stability AI's partnership involves much more than simply leveraging existing generative AI tools to generate art and other assets. EA notes that it already uses AI and machine learning to assist with development tasks such as animation, physics simulation, and pathfinding. EA confirms that the first significant initiative from this new partnership will be to assist in creating Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials through artist-driven workflows.

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PBR materials represent the objects and materials you see in a game, covering real-world things like metal, cloth, and how rain and other elements can affect their appearance and feel. PBR also refers to the ability to create realistic lighting and behavior, and it's one of the key reasons why cutting-edge tech like real-time ray-tracing can dramatically change how a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or EA's own Dragon Age: The Veilguard looks.

Based on EA's announcement that it has been building its own AI tools trained on 40 years of EA games, the expectation is that this partnership will leverage the publisher's decades-long catalog of games, assets, and more to create these tools.

EA explains that one example of this new PBR AI tool will allow its artists and designers to "generate 2D textures that maintain exact color and light accuracy across any environment," which will "help objects in a virtual world look and feel as the artist envisioned." The announcement highlights that humans will remain "at the center of storytelling" and that these AI tools will serve as transformative allies to accelerate development, open the door to faster iteration, and let developers focus on "building world-class games and experiences that entertain massive online communities."

Another example, and one that definitely sounds like a potential game-changer, will be an AI tool that can generate and "pre-visualize" complete 3D environments from "a series of intentional prompts." And with this tool, developers will be able to prototype, iterate, and even refine gameplay mechanics faster and on a "greater scale" than ever before.

"EA has always been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of technology, innovation, and play," says Rick Stringfellow, Head of Visual Content for EA Entertainment. "Partnerships like this are how we evolve the craft of game-making and give our teams the tools to tell deeper, more meaningful stories."

"EA is a pioneer in interactive entertainment and understands that innovation begins with the creator," said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Stability AI. "At Stability AI, we put creators at the center and build around their specific needs. By embedding our 3D research team directly with EA's artists and developers, we'll unlock the next level in world-building power. This kind of progress is only possible through deep partnership, where scientists and creators work side by side."