Xbox manager says AI is already being used in game development

Brandon Stirrup deleted his comments from X a day after saying that AI usage is widespread in the gaming industry. Xbox manager says AI is already being used in game development. Brandon Stirrup, a strategy manager at Xbox, recently waded into the debate, claiming that Xbox is currently using AI to develop games and those who say they aren’t are merely "pretending." Stirrup deactivated his social media account shortly after (though his posts have been archived elsewhere), igniting conversations about what role generative AI actually has or should have in game development.

In some ways, it would be unsurprising to learn that Xbox is using AI to the extent that Stirrup implies. Xbox recently announced the formation of Xbox Labs at least in part as a response to a rising trend of AI-coded game ports; the announcement heavily implied that the new team would use AI as well but didn’t say it outright. Xbox owner Microsoft is also a major player in AI development, a fact that’s already made Xbox the target of a BDS boycott due to that AI’s use by the Israeli military.

While Xbox has yet to officially state a position on developing games with AI, other developers are drawing clear lines around where they stand on the practice. Does everyone really use AI in game development. Particularly among the largest game studios, there’s an insistence that generative AI should be used to speed up game development.