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AI is a contentious subject when it comes to being used in video games, and we’ve seen multiple studios raked over the coals when AI use has been ‘discovered’ in releases by the game playing public. However, according to one Xbox employee, the industry’s reluctance to embrace the technology is increasingly at odds with the reality of how businesses are operating in 2026.
Brandon Stirrup, a Senior Business Strategy Manager at Xbox has shared his thoughts on the future of AI in game development across a series of social media posts, arguing that developers cannot afford to ignore the rapid pace of technological change. “Gaming is the only industry pretending to not use AI“, he declared, as he went into some detail on his personal thoughts on the new technology, and just what it means for video games now and in the future.
Stirrup shared his thoughts across a series of posts on social media, discussing his own experiences with ‘vibe-coding’ in addition to discussing the future of game development. In a post shared on October 16th, he talked a little about current video game development in the AAA space, and how those big experiences can take half a decade to build – so what if you’re plan is already out of date by the time you’re ready to launch?
“Launch a ship to a distant planet today, and a faster ship launched ten years later might pass yours halfway there. Your team spends decades in space only to land second. Game studios are facing the same problem right now,” he wrote.
“So when do you launch? Too early and you get lapped. Wait forever and you never leave. It’s called the wait calculation. A big game takes five years or more. A studio starting one today is launching its ship with today’s engine, tools, and pipeline, while AI tools improve every few months.“
“This month alone, AI-built browser ports of Halo and Vice City appeared, and players are using the same tools to rebuild and mod the games they love. Work that once took a porting team months is being done over a weekend“, he continued, referencing the recent explosion in what are generally referred to as ‘vibe-coded’ video game ports, or the merging of two completely different games.
The examples Stirrup references highlight how AI-assisted development is beginning to change what is possible outside traditional studio pipelines. Browser-based experiments involving established games, alongside projects that combine different games and engines, have demonstrated how quickly developers and indeed, bedroom hobbyists, can move from an idea to a playable proof of concept. Mods such as ArkWeb offer another example of the creative experimentation taking place around existing games.
These surprising ‘experiments’ recently saw Microsoft announce ‘Xbox Labs‘, a new division of “game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.“
For Stirrup, the implications seem to extend beyond mere development speed. If players can increasingly use AI tools to modify, recreate or experiment with their favourite games, he surmises that studios may need to focus more heavily on the experiences and communities that make their official releases worth returning to. That could mean providing players with the tools to experiment themselves, rather than simply trying to prevent them from doing so.
“Studios can’t just wait. Teams need to ship. So what’s worth building in the meantime? My guess: the things a copy can’t take. The community, the official version fans trust, and maybe the tools that let players remix it themselves. If players are going to remix your game anyway, you might as well be the place they do it.
Yesterday, he shared an additional series of posts on the topic, revealing that he vibe coded his own ‘bad-but-improvable’ game in ‘two days’.
My little bad game took 3 hours of active work this weekend. I have never attempted to make a video game. Also went to an NFL game with some friends, the park with my daughter, and spent time with family. It was a fun weekend. What if I had two people helping me over the course of a year?
Here’s a recording of the agent testing and iterating continuously. Lag/freezing is due to screenshots so the agent can see the result of the work:
— Brandon Stirrup (@brandonstirrup) October 19, 2026
“There’s no point in a 5-10 year plan absent AI in 2026,” he continued. “Everything you plan for will be superseded. You’re planning for a fake future. Gaming is the only industry pretending to not use AI. Gaming is the only industry slow-walking the transition because users have negative sentiment. Everyone else accepts reality. If you’re a game developer refusing to believe that AI has a place in your future, you should not be in the business of being a business.“
“I love Xbox and Microsoft and I have spent 10+ years proving this. My goal is to get this over with so we can move on as a company, despite the fact that some will persecute me for this: we use AI, just as all companies do in 2026.“
Stirrup’s comments are a challenge for an industry that remains divided over the role AI should play in game development. His experiments suggest that creating playable experiences is becoming more accessible, while his concerns about lengthy development cycles highlight the risks studios may face if the technology continues to advance at its current pace.
Regardless, the ability to create a ‘game’ with AI does not necessarily mean players will happily embrace the results, particularly when concerns about creativity, authenticity and the role of human developers remain central to the debate. For studios, the challenge may be finding a way to benefit from these tools without undermining the trust of the audiences they rely on. Much of the concern focuses on what is often referred to as ‘Gen-AI Slop’ and usually revolves around – frankly – bad art. Is it fair to have the same feelings towards AI-generated code, which a user will never see directly?
Whether the wider industry agrees with Stirrup’s assessment remains to be seen. But with AI-assisted development continuing to evolve, the question may no longer be whether the technology will affect how games are made, but how developers choose to use it — and whether players will accept the direction they take.
“Look if I’m fired tomorrow it will be because I told you the truth that nobody wants you to know. You can make a game with a simple prompt and yes you can make custom, tailored games. Everything you want in a game is right there for the taking, for better or worse.I’m happy to take the hit if it means hundreds at Xbox can stop pretending that they’re not using AI. It’s time to accept and move forward.“
What do you think about Brandon Stirrup’s comments on AI? Let us know in the comments below!
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