Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 lead studio Infinity Ward has addressed claims that the game features an AI assistant. After retired Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope labeled the Gunsmith assistant "Gunny" as an AI chatbot, Infinity Ward responded by saying that the virtual helper is a "hand-crafted" creation by the studio.

"Wrong (again.) Gunny is hand-crafted by our developers, not AI. It recommends builds based on the attachments you've unlocked for each weapon. It helps make quick loadout changes between matches," Infinity Ward wrote online. Like previous games, the Gunsmith mode in this year's Call of Duty is designed to help players fine-tune their loadouts for various combat scenarios, whether that be equipping a weapon with quick-snap optics for close-quarters or outfitting a sniper rifle for maximum accuracy over extreme distances.

In an online post, one user showed off some footage of Gunny in action, and how it provided recommendations to the player while reminding them to keep grinding so that they could unlock more attachments. As you might surmise from Infinity Ward's response to TheGhostOfHope, there's no love lost between the studio and the leaker, who has prompted several Call of Duty studios to respond to their reports and dismiss them for being inaccurate.

This all came to a head in March this year, when Activision demanded that TheGhostOfHope stop leaking information, as they were causing problems even when they were proven to be inaccurate. TheGhostOfHope agreed and now keeps a watchful eye on Call of Duty with their comments. While Gunny doesn't appear to be an AI creation, Call of Duty has experimented with generative AI in the past. Last year, Activision admitted to using AI as a means to "help develop some in-game assets," and the controversial technology has been used in Modern Warfare 3's Yokai's Wrath DLC and holiday-themed content for Black Ops 6.

Activision claims that while AI tools were also used in the development of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, humans handle the creative process, and that none of that content made it into the game.

This week, Fortnite is adding multiple skins based on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey film, including one of Matt Damon as Odysseus. While this is the first time the actor's likeness has been in a video game, that was nearly not the case. Way back in 2008, a little game called The Bourne Conspiracy released, and the plan was originally for Damon to reprise his role of Jason Bourne for the project.

We heard rumors over the years, but it was a 2021 interview Matt Damon gave with Sean Evans' Hot Ones that gave us concrete details. Damon was interested in the project and said he was offered a bunch of money to make it happen, but he didn't want the game to be "just a first-person shooter" and hoped for something a little more cerebral. His point of reference for this was the puzzle-adventure game Myst, which famously has no gunfire, car chases, stealth, or fisticuffs.

Despite the star power that Damon would bring to the project, the development team at High Moon Studios evidently thought his idea was a bit of a non-starter. The game was developed without his involvement, nor the involvement of Chris Cooper, who played Alexander Conklin in The Bourne Identity. Franka Potente, who played Marie in the first two Bourne films, did reprise her role.

All in all, Damon didn't end up missing out on that much. While The Bourne Conspiracy wasn't a bad game, its mix of brawling, stealth, shooting, and driving made it a jack of all trades and master of none. The Bourne movie franchise has been on ice for years at this point, with the stinker sequel Jason Bourne releasing back in 2016. Really, as someone who loves the first three movies, you do not need to watch it. Just pretend it all ended with Ultimatum.