Less than a week ago, leadership shakeup at Xbox saw Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer retire and Xbox President Sarah Bond step down. In Spencer's place, Asha Sharma--the former boss of Microsoft's CoreAI division--will now lead Microsoft Gaming. However, Sharma and the newly promoted Xbox CCO Matt Booty want to assure fans that the former's background doesn't mean that Microsoft is pushing for more AI in games.
"We've got no pressure from Microsoft, there are no directives on AI coming down," Booty told Windows Central. "Our teams are free to use any technologies that might be beneficial, whether it's helping write code or check for bugs--things more in the production pipeline. At the end of the day, as Asha said, we're committed to art made by people. Technology is only in support of that"
Booty added that Xbox's goal is for AI to be additive and supportive and compared its impact to the way Photoshop became a widely used tool.
"In my experience, any time there's a new technology, what happens is there's a need for more specialists, new specialists," added Booty. "It raises the bar on what the expectations are for the quality of the games."
Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard confirmed that some AI-generative content was used in Call of Duty. It remains to be seen how that fits in with Xbox's stated AI goals, although Sharma has said she wants to avoid "soulless AI slop" and that she has "no tolerance for bad AI."
Sharma has also acknowledged fan requests for more Xbox-exclusive games. But it's unknown if Microsoft will shift gears on that strategy given that some of its 2025 cross-platform releases were among the top-selling PlayStation 5 games of the year.
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"We've got no pressure from Microsoft, there are no directives on AI coming down," Booty told Windows Central. "Our teams are free to use any technologies that might be beneficial, whether it's helping write code or check for bugs--things more in the production pipeline. At the end of the day, as Asha said, we're committed to art made by people. Technology is only in support of that"
Booty added that Xbox's goal is for AI to be additive and supportive and compared its impact to the way Photoshop became a widely used tool.
"In my experience, any time there's a new technology, what happens is there's a need for more specialists, new specialists," added Booty. "It raises the bar on what the expectations are for the quality of the games."
Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard confirmed that some AI-generative content was used in Call of Duty. It remains to be seen how that fits in with Xbox's stated AI goals, although Sharma has said she wants to avoid "soulless AI slop" and that she has "no tolerance for bad AI."
Sharma has also acknowledged fan requests for more Xbox-exclusive games. But it's unknown if Microsoft will shift gears on that strategy given that some of its 2025 cross-platform releases were among the top-selling PlayStation 5 games of the year.
Source