Teammates puts voice-driven AI squadmates into a playable test

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Ubisoft has revealed Teammates – its first playable generative AI research project designed to probe how real-time voice can shape gameplay and narrative. Built as a short first-person shooter experience, it places players in a dystopian setting with an AI voice assistant named Jaspar and two AI-enhanced NPC squadmates, Sofia and Pablo. The system interprets natural speech to trigger in-game actions, surface story context, and adapt encounters on the fly. Ubisoft positions Teammates as an experiment to assess possibilities and limits of voice-led interactions rather than a commercial product.

What Teammates is testing

The playable slice focuses on squad coordination and adaptive storytelling. Players act as resistance operatives infiltrating an enemy base to locate five missing teammates by recovering their last memories, while engaging hostile patrols along the route. The core question is straightforward: how far can natural speech drive meaningful gameplay and immersion without pre-scripted command wheels?

Jaspar, the in-game voice assistant

Jaspar is designed to behave as a character and a tool, reacting to world state and player intent. According to Ubisoft, he can:

• Highlight enemies or objects based on context
• Surface lore and story details tied to the current location
• Adjust settings instantly – including pausing the game – via natural speech
• Interpret situational cues and respond dynamically to player actions

These capabilities run on systems that parse the playable environment and contextual data, aiming to keep responses relevant to what is happening on screen.

Voice commands that shape encounters

The same tech underpins Sofia and Pablo, who can be addressed directly. Early in the scenario, players meet two patrolling enemies before receiving a weapon. Success relies on directing squadmates to use cover and issuing precise, time-sensitive orders – who to engage, how to approach, and when to strike. Ubisoft’s researchers stress that the player’s voice materially influences combat flow and outcomes, turning vocal direction into a tactical axis rather than a novelty.

Design intent: AI as a collaborator, not a replacement

Ubisoft frames the project as a collaboration between tools and authorship, with the narrative team defining boundaries while allowing improvisation inside them.

“We hope players will feel like they’re shaping the story themselves, not just following it,” said Narrative Director Virginie Mosser.

“Player input shapes character reactions in real time, something traditional development can’t achieve,” added Data & AI Director Rémi Labory, noting the experiment delivers a pipeline from onboarding to debrief.

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“I still write the story and character personalities,” Mosser explained, “but instead of fixed lines, we create fences that let NPCs improvise within the world while staying within the lore and motivations.”

The team acknowledges concerns around AI in games, stating the aim is to augment human creativity with responsive systems rather than automate creative roles.

From Neo NPC to Teammates

Teammates follows Ubisoft’s earlier GDC 2024 reveal of Neo NPC, an advanced NPC experiment. Where Neo NPC explored conversational depth, Teammates shifts focus to playable, voice-driven coordination with a squad in a high-pressure FPS context.

What’s next for the experiment

• Closed playtests: The build has been shown to a few hundred players, whose feedback is informing iteration.
• Ongoing development: The team plans to keep testing and refining the tools with internal creative groups and players.
• More materials: Ubisoft intends to share an explainer video detailing the experience.

There are no release platforms or launch dates – Teammates is positioned as research. The focus remains on collecting reactions, improving systems, and studying how voice input can add depth to moment-to-moment play and narrative delivery.

Key features at a glance

• Playable research FPS set in a dystopian base infiltration
• Real-time voice control of an AI assistant and two NPC squadmates
• Context-aware responses for tactics, UI control, and lore delivery
• Story framing: recover the final memories of 5 missing operatives
• Research-first approach with closed playtest participation in the hundreds

Final takeaway – why it matters for players

Teammates signals Ubisoft’s push toward voice as an input that carries real tactical and narrative weight. If the research holds, players could see future games where squad control, world knowledge, and story beats respond naturally to how they speak – not just what buttons they press.