In the lead-up to Gamescom, Activision's Call of Duty team briefly published an internal marketing render for Modern Warfare 4 that fans quickly identified as potentially AI-generated, citing the telltale distortion of the soldier's weapon. The image was removed and attributed to a placeholder error, but the incident landed on already-scorched ground — Activision has openly used generative AI in prior titles, drawing sustained criticism from players who see the technology as a threat to craft. The stumble has become a mirror, reflecting a deeper and unresolved tension in the games industry bet