Microsoft announced a major gaming overhaul on Friday, with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond leaving the company.
Spencer will be replaced by former Instacart and Meta executive Asha Sharma. With Sharma most recently serving as president of Microsoft CoreAI products, the move suggests that Microsoft may be redoubling its efforts to bring AI to video games.
The company was already experimenting with ways to combine AI and games, including developing an AI gaming companion and releasing buggy AI-generated levels in “Quake II.”
Indeed, in an internal memo published by The Verge, Sharma wrote that Microsoft will “invent new business models and new ways of playing” and that “monetization and AI” will “advance and influence this future.” At the same time, she said the company “will not pursue short-term efficiencies or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slopes.”
“Games are and will continue to be art, created by humans and made possible by the most innovative technologies we have to offer,” Sharma added.
This is just one of three “promises” Sharma made in his memo. Others have to do with making “great games that players love” and prioritizing Xbox.
