Xbox console creator expects brand to slowly die, as Microsoft Gaming CEO prioritizes AI

The co-creator of the Xbox console has offered insight into the recent upheaval at his former company. Speaking to GamesBeat, Seamus Blackley doesn’t see the appointment of a new Microsoft Gaming CEO as a positive development. He envisions Asha Sharma gradually dismantling the Xbox brand, with a mandate to transform it into an AI-based business.

Microsoft has bet big on AI

Blackley reminds audiences that Microsoft and its CEO, Satya Nadella, have made an enormous investment in AI. His prediction for the fate of Xbox is sobering:

Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted. They don’t say that, but that’s what’s happening. I expect that the new CEO, Asha Sharma, her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night.

After learning that she would take over for Phil Spencer, Sharma insisted that the company wouldn’t “flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” However, Microsoft anticipates that the tools will dominate every industry. Referencing statements from Nadella, Blackley believes that “AI will subsume games like it will subsume everything.”

What Asha Sharma's resume suggests

The driving force behind the original Xbox console notes that the CEO’s experience is in AI, not gaming. Citing high-profile failures, eager newcomers are often unprepared to tackle its many challenges. According to Blackley, it’s a complex industry that blends technology with creativity.

Critics worry that studios will replace developers and artists with generative AI tools. The Xbox pioneer doubts that machine learning could ever replicate human-produced art. He also questions why Microsoft wants to abandon a reliable business model for an unproven alternative. That said, for years, the company struggled to compete with Nintendo and PlayStation using a conventional approach.

Despite Blackley’s bleak perspective, Sharma appears to appreciate first-party hardware and games. In opening comments, she expressed a “renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console.” Yet, many gamers are skeptical about another change in direction. The rumored new Xbox console may resemble a Windows gaming PC, without exclusive games to appease fans.