Xbox manager says AI is already being used in game development
Xbox strategy manager Brandon Stirrup publicly claimed the company already uses AI to make games, then deleted his posts. The remarks reignited debate over generative AI's role in the games industry.
Brandon Stirrup, a strategy manager at Microsoft's Xbox gaming brand, claimed on the social network X that Xbox already uses artificial intelligence (AI) in game development and that those who say otherwise are merely "pretending." A day later he deleted the posts and deactivated his account, though they have been archived elsewhere. The remarks have renewed the question of what role generative AI has, or should have, in making games.
Xbox's position is unclear
Xbox has not officially stated a position on developing games with AI. It recently announced a new team, Xbox Labs, partly in response to a rising trend of AI-coded game ports. The announcement strongly implied the team would use AI but did not say so outright. Xbox's owner, Microsoft, is also a major AI developer, which has already made Xbox the target of a BDS boycott because the Israeli military uses that AI.
An industry divided
Many of the biggest studios, including Capcom, Square Enix, Sega, Nexon and Activision, have used AI in their games or pledged to. Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, has been open about its AI use, and its CEO Tim Sweeney has promoted it actively on social media. Several industry studies report adoption of around 90 percent, but small participant pools and the way AI is defined cast doubt on how representative they are.
Smaller independent studios, by contrast, are often vocally opposed. They include Tunic publisher Finji, Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe and Strange Scaffold. Players are split too: some accept AI as part of games' future, while others avoid it over environmental costs, labor issues or aesthetic preference. That has led to a browser extension that makes Steam's AI disclosures more visible and to developer-led labels certifying games as AI-free.
What AI changes in games
The most contested uses involve AI-generated assets in finished games, such as the AI voices in The Finals. More often, developers say such assets were placeholders meant to be removed, as happened recently with Crimson Desert. Many people accept AI for generating code. There are fears that executives could use AI's promise to justify layoffs, and it is unclear whether AI will make development easier. One visible trend is a surge of low-quality games, including at the Steam Next Fest demo event.
