Xbox leans into AI with Xbox Labs

The company aims to work with users as well as its own developers and engineers to make games and experiences stemming from the new AI-fueled creations. In the span of weeks, AI altered the video game industry with mashups, which allow people to combine multiple popular games into one — and Xbox is leaning in. AI-coding models have crossed new capability thresholds that allow users to reverse-engineer and recreate complex game code that would have taken humans years to do. People have created mashups that allow Minecraft characters to play in Elden Ring, or skateboard through Call of Duty. “These experiments challenge long-held assumptions about our industry,” an Xbox executive said in a memo sent to employees and posted Tuesday on the company’s website, adding that the viral mashups mean gamers have become creators. “These are unmistakably good outcomes for players, even when (and sometimes because ) they challenge our existing business models.” The video game giant announced Xbox Labs, which will aim to work with users as well as its own developers and engineers to make games and experiences stemming from the new AI-fueled creations.