Microsoft's AI Coach for Gamers Is Starting Tests Next Month
Announced last year, Copilot for Gaming is powered by Microsoft's AI assistant and is meant to help players save time and better experience games. This can include lessening the headache when downloading and updating titles or giving hints as to side quests they might miss out on. Copilot for Gaming will first hit mobile in April, and those interested can sign up for early access via the Xbox Insider program. It'll initially act as a second-screen companion via the Xbox mobile app.
"It has to be personalized to you the way that you like to play and it should be able to help you get further in gaming, be your companion, and help connect you with families and communities," said Fatima Kardar, Xbox corporate vice president of Gaming AI on the podcast.
For Kardar, who is fairly new to gaming, Copilot helps her with game recommendations, which is handy for someone not tuned into the latest releases.
Jason Ronald, vice president of next generation at Xbox, added that Copilot can recommend the types of cars to drive in a racing game that better fits his play style, for example. In a demo shown during the podcast, Copilot assisted in Overwatch 2 by recommending which heroes to pick to counter others.
Kardar notes that gaming is the only form of media that can leave people stuck. This is where Copilot can help gamers get through games. At the same time, she doesn't want Copilot for Gaming to be intrusive, meaning the AI will adapt itself to be personalized for how a player likes to play.
Microsoft deferred to its blog post when asked for comment.
The upcoming test is happening as Microsoft continues going all-in on AI. With the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, Microsoft made a multibillion-dollar deal with OpenAI. That deal led to the development of Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant in Windows. We've since seen AI enter all parts of Microsoft's business, from PowerPoint to Azure.
However, at the same time, the video game industry has been hit with layoffs throughout the last few years, including ones at Microsoft. Concerns have been raised of AI slowly replacing software developers. Last month, Microsoft revealed Muse, an AI model for gameplay ideation. Some developers are less keen on embracing it, however, suggesting that the technology is more of a cost-cutting measure than something developers are actually asking for.
Xbox was careful to say that Copilot for Gaming would leave control to the player and any AI assistance would only be additive. The podcast also detailed that Xbox Play Anywhere, a program that allows gamers to pick up their games on either console or PC, has been expanded to include 1,000 titles.
For more on AI in gaming, check out how developers are using the tech or how PlayStation is creating AI-generated characters in games.
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The simultaneous departure of both Druckmann and Gross reeks of HBO deciding that the tepid reception to season two meant a change was needed. In a statement that lacked all of the passion Druckmann has shown for the show thus far, he said he was transitioning his 'complete focus' to Naughty Dog and future games, including Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet . We'll probably never know if Druckmann left on his own or was forced out, but the part of me that loves Naughty Dog's games is finding solace in that new focus even as HBO's The Last of Us is thrown into turmoil. Druckmann will probably be far more useful to Sony as a whole working on new games than dabbling in the TV industry. That's in large part because yesterday also reminded us just how chaotic the game industry is. In the biggest news of the day, a series of wide-ranging layoffs at Microsoft impacted numerous Xbox studios, the latest bad news for an industry that has frankly been devastated by instability in recent years. 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Games industry expert Joost Van Dreunen wrote in 2023 that the success of the show's first season was 'the culmination of Sony's gradual transition to becoming a media company.' That's something the company itself has talked up in the years since — the idea of becoming platform-less, with franchises existing on the PlayStation, on the movie screen and on the smaller TV screen in your home. Take its CES 2025 presentation, for example; Sony talked up multiple gaming adaptations besides The Last of Us like the Horizon franchise and Ghost of Tsushima. "While [Sony] continues to sell hardware at scale, its strategic emphasis is shifting toward high-margin digital services and franchise expansion," Van Dreunen wrote last month. "Titles like The Last of Us have crossed into television with critical success, and Sony has invested heavily in anime distribution (via Crunchyroll) and film adaptations of its game IP. It positions PlayStation less as a closed hardware ecosystem and more as the foundation for a vertically integrated content engine. Rather than chasing distribution breadth like Microsoft, Sony is doubling down on cultural depth, using its exclusive IP to build multi-format engagement loops." I don't think a less-than-stellar second season of The Last of Us will cause Sony to abandon this strategy. (Sony is also too big of a ship to completely turn away from this plan very quickly.) But the repositioning of Druckmann as the lead of a successful and influential video game studio rather than a multi-medium creative visionary reinforces the fact that if they're going to have hits on a variety of different platforms, new, ambitious and hopefully good games like Intergalactic are a necessity. At this point, HBO's The Last of Us is going to keep on rolling, with or without Druckmann — there were a lot of loud complaints, but also still plenty of viewers and positive reviews. But Naughty Dog is past due for another big game that pushes the genre in a new direction. It's the right time for Druckmann to come home.
