Xbox faces “no pressure from Microsoft” to use AI, says new leadership

Xbox is facing “no pressure from Microsoft” to use AI under the new leadership of Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma.

Speaking to Windows Central, Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty explained that the firm wants to use AI for support, not disruption.

“There are no directives on AI coming down,” said Booty. “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.”

Sharma reiterated her stance that there is “no bad AI” at Xbox and that it will “not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.”

“I think that with any new technology, it brings possibilities as a tool,” said Sharma. “We need to draw lines on what we won’t do.”

“I will not flood our ecosystem with slop. We won’t have careless output, we won’t have derivative work. I deeply believe in the words that I shared previously there.”

Sharma also emphasised her commitment to console hardware during her tenure, contrasting this with the cross-device ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign introduced by former Xbox president Sarah Bond.

“I want to make sure everybody knows I’m committed to Xbox, starting with the console,” she said. “We’re going to keep meeting players where they are – the world continues to evolve and change.”

“I am committed to ‘returning to Xbox,’ and that starts with console, that starts with hardware. We also know that there are a lot of players who aren’t on console or our hardware, and I want to deliver great games to them too.”

When asked about revising Xbox’s strategy with exclusive titles, Sharma said “nothing was off the table.”

“Right now, I need to learn, candidly. About the ‘why’ of these decisions, what we were optimising for, and what the data says about the Xbox strategy today,” she explained.

“I’m looking at lifetime value, not just what happened in a previous moment, or in short-term efficiencies and things like that. The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan.”

Booty agreed, adding that Xbox’s studio system “is fully built around being first-party” and that it’s “not built to just be a publisher.”

“It is core to our partnership with the Microsoft platform, being involved in early hardware decisions – all the work we’ve done to get games like Gears of War running great on new devices like the Xbox Ally, and so on.

“It is embedded within our structure, we’re not backing away from that. We’re committed to being a first-party games publisher in partnership with our first-party platform team.”

Overall, Sharma said she and Booty are determined to address challenges and revitalise the Xbox brand.

“We know that the business has gone through some challenges. I’m going to use my expertise and the leaders that have the deep gaming depth around the table to help us grow the business, and make sure that we have an incredible next 25 years.

“I will listen, I will learn, I will communicate what we’re seeing, and what we’re doing. I think from here, the work is proof over promise. Matt and I are in it, every hour of every day of every night, I am fully in this thing. This team has brought it back before, and I’m here to help us do it again.”

Last Friday (February 20), it was announced that Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond would be departing from Xbox.

Spencer retired from his role as Microsoft Gaming CEO, while Bond stepped down as Xbox president. Both will remain as advisors during the leadership transition.