Xbox manager says AI is already being used in game development

Brandon Stirrup deleted his comments from X a day after saying that AI usage is widespread in the gaming industry.

Generative AI is one of the most controversial topics in game development right now, and whether it’s the future of the medium or a temporary blight on it depends on who you ask. Brandon Stirrup, a strategy manager at Xbox, recently waded into the debate, claiming that Xbox is currently using AI to develop games and those who say they aren’t are merely “pretending.” Stirrup deactivated his social media account shortly after (though his posts have been archived elsewhere), igniting conversations about what role generative AI actually has or should have in game development.

In some ways, it would be unsurprising to learn that Xbox is using AI to the extent that Stirrup implies. Xbox recently announced the formation of Xbox Labs at least in part as a response to a rising trend of AI-coded game ports; the announcement heavily implied that the new team would use AI as well but didn’t say it outright. Xbox owner Microsoft is also a major player in AI development, a fact that’s already made Xbox the target of a BDS boycott due to that AI’s use by the Israeli military. While Xbox has yet to officially state a position on developing games with AI, other developers are drawing clear lines around where they stand on the practice.

Does everyone really use AI in game development?

Particularly among the largest game studios, there’s an insistence that generative AI should be used to speed up game development. Developers including Capcom, Square Enix, Sega, Nexon and Activision have all either used AI in their games or pledged to do so. Fortnite developer Epic Games has been particularly up-front about its AI use, and CEO Tim Sweeney has aggressively promoted it on social media. Multiple game industry studies have also found extremely high adoption rates for AI (around 90 percent), though their limited participant pools and definitions of AI call into question just how representative their responses are.

On the other hand, there are large pockets of the game industry vocally opposed to generative AI. Notably, these tend to be smaller, independent studios without shareholders to impress by touting the cost-savings of AI. These studios include Tunic publisher Finji, Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe and Clickolding developer Strange Scaffold, among many more. Due to the sheer number and variety of game studios, it’s impossible to say just how much of the industry actually uses AI at this point, but claims that “everyone” is using it are clearly false.

There’s a similar divide among players about whether generative AI should be embraced or avoided at all costs. While some simply accept AI as part of games going forward, others have pledged to avoid games that use the technology outright due to its environmental costs, labor issues or pure aesthetic preference. That’s led to the popularity of tools like a browser extension that makes Steam’s AI disclosures more visible and grassroots efforts by developers to implement labels certifying their games as AI-free.

What generative AI actually means for games

The most controversial uses of AI come from generating assets that appear in the final game. Sometimes they’re intentionally included, like The Finals‘ use of AI-generated voices. More commonly, developers claim that art assets found in finished games were meant to be used as placeholders and removed later, as was the case recently with Crimson Desert. Many players and developers alike justify the use of AI in generating code, even if they’re opposed to it in other areas.

The effects of AI on game development at large are hard to pin down. While AI can’t generate games worth playing without extensive support from skilled developers, there’s still fear that executives could use the promise of AI to support laying off workers, and it’s still an open question whether AI will ultimately make games easier to develop. One demonstrable trend is the proliferation of low-quality “slop” games, often copying directly from other projects, as seen by the massive increase of AI games in the Steam Next Fest demo event. It’s clear that AI is changing the way many games are made, but what those changes actually look like are still to be seen.