Microsoft’s new gaming CEO vows not to flood the ecosystem with ‘endless AI slop’
Source: TechCrunch
Overview
Image Credits: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty Images
Microsoft announced a major gaming shake‑up on Friday. Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox President Sarah Bond are departing the company. Their replacements will be former Instacart and Meta executive Asha Sharma, who most recently served as president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product. The moves suggest Microsoft is doubling down on integrating AI into video games.
AI Experiments in Gaming
Microsoft has already been experimenting with AI‑driven gaming features, including:
- Developing an AI gaming companion.
- Releasing a buggy, AI‑generated level for Quake II (details here).
Asha Sharma’s Internal Memo
In an internal memo published by The Verge (read it here), Sharma outlined three core commitments for Microsoft Gaming:
- Invent new business models and new ways to play, emphasizing that “monetization and AI will evolve and influence this future.”
- Avoid flooding the ecosystem with soulless AI slop and refrain from chasing short‑term efficiency.
- Build great games beloved by players while prioritizing the Xbox platform.
She emphasized that “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”