The video games industry is still trying to digest the sudden departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond from Xbox. Microsoft has since then appointed former Microsoft CoreAI president, Asha Sharma in Spencer’s place, with Matt Booty being promoted to Xbox’s Chief Content Officer.
While fans were concerned what Sharma’s appointment would mean for Xbox, especially due to her AI background, she promised that the ecosystem would not be flooded with “soulless AI slop.” However, that may be a bit hard to believe, given how Microsoft’s upper management has recently made sweeping decisions to bolster its AI push. Asha and Booty have now reiterated that Microsoft is not pressuring them to implement AI into Xbox’s strategy.
Microsoft Isn’t Pushing For AI Implementation Into Xbox
In an interview with Windows Central, Sharma and Booty stressed that Microsoft has not put any pressure on them to implement any AI strategy into Xbox, despite Sharma’s previous role. “I think that with any new technology, it brings possibilities as a tool, but even more important, especially now – we need to draw lines on what we won’t do,” said Sharma. “That’s what I attempted to do when I shared my opening letter. I will not flood our ecosystem with slop.”
Booty ensured that Microsoft isn’t going to force devs to use AI tools, but did add that they are free to experiment with whatever tools they want. “What I hear throughout our studios: it is the people, our artists, our coders, the writers — they’re doing the creative work,” he said. “In my experience, any time there’s a new technology, what happens is there’s a need for more specialists, new specialists. It raises the bar on what the expectations are for the quality of the games.
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“We’ve got no pressure from Microsoft, there are no directives on AI coming down. 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.”
