Ever since Asha Sharma took over as head of Xbox, gamers have had thousands of questions on their minds. Fans are worried about the future of the company, and Sharma has been vocal in responding to those concerns.
In a recent interview, she was asked about the current state of exclusive gaming, as she recently hinted that they might be returning. For now, however, Xbox won't be making any immediate adjustments to its multi-platform strategy.
In an interview with Windows Central, Asha Sharma talked about the future of exclusive games. She said it was too early to make any major changes, but she didn't rule anything out, suggesting they might look into it in the future.
"We also know that there are many players who do not use game consoles or our hardware (Xbox), and I also want to bring them a great gaming experience."
She said the current plan is the current plan until it isn't, remarks that could hint at Xbox re-evaluating its multi-platform strategy in the future. But for now, she wants to focus on other things, especially hardware.
"Frankly, I need to learn now. Learn the 'why' behind these decisions, what our goals were at the time, and what the data tells us about Xbox strategy today. A plan is a plan until it isn't a plan."
She said she currently wants to focus on hardware and return Xbox to its original mission.
Xbox's new management team says the company has no plans to mandate the use of artificial intelligence in games.
In an interview with Windows Central, Microsoft's new gaming CEO Asha Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty said that management has not required the use of artificial intelligence when developing games, but artificial intelligence will still be used as a productivity tool.
Sharma explained that while companies do use AI in the development process, it's more important to use it correctly and not to produce low-quality output.
“I think any new technology opens up possibilities and becomes a tool, but more importantly, especially now – we need to draw clear lines about what we won’t do,
This is what I tried to do in my opening letter. I will not flood our ecosystem with inferior products. We will not tolerate shoddy work, nor will we tolerate plagiarism. I truly believe what I said before. "
Booty added that artificial intelligence is used at Microsoft as a tool to improve productivity, but is not necessary to replace the creation of artistic materials.
He said: "The game developer community is always eager to adopt new technologies. When Photoshop first came out, because it was so practical, it became popular in every game studio around the world in about a month.
The feedback I hear from all departments across our studio is that it's our people, our artists, programmers, writers - they're the ones who are really doing the creative work. In my experience, every time a new technology emerges, more experts, new experts, are needed. This raises expectations for the quality of the game.
We have not received any pressure from Microsoft, nor have we issued any instructions regarding artificial intelligence. Our team is free to use any technology that might bring benefit, whether it's to assist with writing code or to check for bugs - these are used more in the production process. As Asha said, we are ultimately dedicated to art created by humans. Technology just supports that. "