Highlights Microsoft has partnered with Inworld AI to develop AI-driven tools for Xbox game developers, including an “AI design copilot” system. AI technologies are transforming the gaming industry, enabling faster development, immersive virtual worlds, realistic characters, and adaptive gameplay. This partnership combines Inworld’s expertise in AI NPCs with Microsoft’s AI solutions, aiming to create innovative AI tools for crafting dialogues, stories, and quests. GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Microsoft has revealed a new partnership with Inworld AI that is aimed at advancing the capabilities of Xbox. This collaboration is set to span several years and will introduce a range of tools with AI-driven features designed to assist game developers. Notable among these tools is the “AI design copilot” system, which will provide Microsoft’s Xbox developers with the means to create intricate scripts, branching dialogues, and more.
The introduction of AI to the gaming industry has been transformative. AI technologies are changing game development, making it faster, more immersive, and increasingly intelligent. These systems can create lifelike virtual worlds, generate realistic characters, and even adapt gameplay in real time to match a player’s skills and preferences. Notably, in March, a developer harnessed the capabilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 to craft an entire video game within a minute, exemplifying the potential of this technology.
Microsoft is well-versed in AI technology, offering a range of products such as Azure AI, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Security Copilot, and more. In a significant expansion of its AI initiatives, a new partnership was unveiled on November 6, where Xbox and Inworld have embarked on a multi-year collaboration to develop an AI toolkit for game development. Haiyan Zhang, General Manager of Gaming AI at Xbox, expressed the aim of making game development easier and pushing the boundaries of gaming. She further added that the objective is to offer game creators accessible and innovative AI tools for crafting dialogues, stories, and quests, saying that “with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games.”
This partnership unites Inworld’s expertise in creating AI NPCs that react to player questions, much like how ChatGPT responds to natural language queries, with Microsoft’s AI solutions and Team Xbox’s experience in crafting accessible and responsible developer tools. Together, they will focus on developing two key tools: an AI design copilot to assist game designers in generating creative ideas, and an AI character runtime engine for dynamic story and quest generation within games. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in the evolution of AI-driven game development tools.
At Xbox, we believe that with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games.
While the ultimate outcome of this partnership remains to be seen, it underscores the tech giant’s growing interest in investing in AI firms. In 2021, Microsoft acquired AI company Nuance Communications, a leading software technology corporation specializing in speech recognition and artificial intelligence, in a deal that ranked as the company’s second-largest acquisition at that time, with a cost of $19.7 billion. In addition to this, Microsoft also made headlines earlier this year by showcasing AI technology that enables players to control Minecraft without the need for manual character movement.
