Microsoft is no longer developing a version of its Copilot AI assistant for consoles, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has confirmed.
In a message on X, Sharm stated that one of Xbox‘s main priorities is to “address friction” it has with players and Xbox developers, and that the scrapping of Copilot on Xbox consoles is part of this move.
“Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers,” she wrote.
“Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business back on track.
“As part of this shift, you’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.”
Microsoft had been working on incorporating its Copilot AI assistant into games for some time. Two years ago it gave a demonstration of how it planned to make Copilot speak to players while they’re playing games.
In the example, the player is playing Minecraft, and asks Copilot how to make a sword. The AI assistant asks them to open their inventory, analyses the items they have, then tells them which items they still need and where to find them.
Last year it then specifically announced it was bringing Copilot for Gaming to Xbox consoles, describing it as an “AI-driven sidekick” which was “designed to be your personalised gaming companion”.
An example given showed the player in the character select screen in an Overwatch game, asking the AI what to do when their favourite character Echo had already been chosen by someone else.
“Echo’s taken, but Cassidy would be a solid pick with this team,” the AI replied. “His mid-range hitscan and Mercy’s damage boost will work great on Ilios Ruins. Plus you’ve done great with him on this map before.”
Later in the demo, the player died quickly and asked Copilot what happened. “You stayed in the fight too long after your teammates were down,” it replied. “Diving straight into Ramattra was a death sentence. Next time, retreat to regroup with your team.”
Sharma became Xbox CEO in February, replacing the outgoing Phil Spencer. Before that, she was president of Microsoft’s CoreAI, causing some to worry that she would be bringing an AI-focused mindset to Xbox.
In a mission statement shared with Xbox employees worldwide last month, however, Sharm said the Xbox team was going to “re-evaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide”.
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