Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has today announced ‘Xbox Labs’, a new Xbox division headed by Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet.
The announcement was made by Asha Sharma
Xbox Labs – Is it just AI?
Xbox Labs will be led by Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet, previously CVP at Microsoft for Azure OpenAI & AI Infrastructure.
I’ll be somewhat honest: the announcement is a little confusing, or at the very least, it seems like a way to avoid mentioning the words “Artificial intelligence” or “generative AI”.
“These experiments challenge long-held assumptions about our industry: the tether between software and hardware, the boundary between creation and play, and how people discover and experience games,” says Sharma.
“While it is hard to predict the future of gaming, it is easy to see the possibilities in making great games easier to access, giving old games new life and allowing more players to become creators and co-creators. These are unmistakably good outcomes for players, even when (and sometimes because) they challenge our existing business models,” she continued.
The announcement reads awfully like this is yet another company in the video game industry exploring its uses with AI, with Asha Sharma mentioning towards the end of the email that “Our [Xbox’s] priorities aren’t changing.” as she assures developers.
“We remain committed to the 4Cs, to making great games, to our hardware and to being responsible stewards of IP and the communities built around it. LABS gives us a way to explore new technology without abandoning the work already underway,” she said.
I’ll admit, though, it’s a little confusing who will actually be using the tools and what limitations they have. Is this AI? Modding? I guess there are a lot more questions to be answered. But I guess time will tell.
You can sign up for Xbox Labs here.
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming’s Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he’s not running one of the industry’s leading independent video game websites, he’s probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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