Xbox first-party developers have a choice whether or not to use generative AI, Microsoft says

Following heavy layoffs in the games industry, including its own video games division, Microsoft today made a bunch of announcements regarding its generative AI technology that will be used for games development.

2

Today Microsoft revealed Muse, its new generative AI tech, and talked more about its plans for AI in games. The company is going full steam ahead on a "real-time playable AI model trained on other first-party games," and its experimental Muse technology is able to create generated instances of gameplay at low-level resolution.

Using AI poses a potential ethical dilemma in the creative space, especially with so many fellow developers having been laid off. In a blog post, Microsoft says that first-party devs won't be made to use AI tech.

"For Xbox, game creators will always be the center of our overall AI efforts. We believe there is space for traditional game development and future generative AI technologies that serve as an extension of creative work and offer novel experiences.

"As part of this, we have empowered creative leaders here at Xbox to decide on the use of generative AI. There isn't going to be a single solution for every game or project, and the approach will be based on the creative vision and goals of each team."

One team has already pledged not to use Muse. Ninja Theory Studio Head Dom Matthews says that his studio won't be using the tech for its games:

So, although this is technology that we haven't used in the creation of our games, and we don't intend to use this technology for the creation of content, I think the interesting aspect for us that is exciting is how can we use technology like this to make the process of making games quicker and easier for our talented team so that they can really focus on the thing that I think is really special about games, which is that human creativity.

Games to me are really creators using the medium of games to talk to their audience, to communicate through the medium of games. And I think that's a really important aspect of interactivity, and that is core to game creation for me.

So what's important with this is that we have the human creativity, but through this technology we can empower them to do more and push their own dreams further than they have been before.