Long-time Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer has retired, and Xbox president Sarah Bond has resigned. Filling their shoes will be Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, who has been promoted to chief content officer, and a newcomer to Microsoft's gaming division, Asha Sharma, who will take over for Spencer as the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Sharma's credentials instantly raised eyebrows: She's moving to Microsoft's gaming division from its "CoreAI" products division—stuff like Azure AI services—and does not have a background in games.
In a letter shared with Microsoft employees, Sharma got ahead of fears that she'll push generative AI tools on Microsoft's many game studios, which include among others Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, id Software, MachineGames, Obsidian, inXile, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Mojang.
"As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future [of gaming], we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop," wrote Sharma. "Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us."
What Sharma describes is arguably already occurring at Activision, which has used generative AI to make art that appears in Call of Duty—though perhaps not often enough to call it a "flood" yet.
In her letter, Sharma also promises a commitment to making "great games."
"We must have great games beloved by players before we do anything," wrote Sharma. "Unforgettable characters, stories that make us feel, innovative game play, and creative excellence. We will empower our studios, invest in iconic franchises, and back bold new ideas. We will take risks. We will enter new categories and markets where we can add real value, grounded in what players care about most."
Microsoft's gaming business has had a tumultuous 2020s so far. On one hand, it added giants Bethesda and Activision Blizzard to its now huge portfolio of publishers and studios, and there's been no shortage of cash for its executives. On the other, it has canceled numerous games, closed recently acquired studios such as Arkane Austin, laid off thousands of workers, and struggled to sell Xbox consoles.
It's difficult to identify a specific change of strategy in Sharma's letter, as PCG's Wes Fenlon discusses in more detail here. The commitment to making great games is paired with a promise to "build a shared platform and tools that empower developers and players to create and share their own stories," which sounds Roblox-ey. Sharma also promises "the return of Xbox" and a renewed commitment to the console, but says that "gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware."
Regarding generative AI, Microsoft has invested billions into the technology, and has been experimenting with game development applications, such as with its Muse AI model, which it called "a major step toward generative AI models that can empower game creators." Microsoft's AI boss also recently said that he expects the technology to be capable of "most, if not all, professional tasks" within 18 months, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that "we need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs. sophistication."
Microsoft said in a blog post last September that it (or humanity in general) has a "need for greater efficiency and productivity" and that "AI is unlocking our human potential with advances in workflow automation."
