Xbox's Copilot AI discourages social gaming
Copilot is coming to Xbox gaming. It is billed as a tool to make games more accessible, but at what cost? Will this drive gamers to grow more isolated?
Today, a new episode of the Xbox Podcast dove into AI at Xbox, also known as Copilot. The two guests included the CVP of Gaming AI, Fatima Kardar, and the VP of Next-Generation (actual job title) Jason Ronald. Both guests talked about pain points for gamers, and how often players will bounce off a game early on when they encounter something confusing or challenging. Having seen the percentages of players who unlock certain progression achievements on Steam, this does add up to me. But in the name of accessibility, are gamers willing to forgo making connections with other people? Yeah, you know, just saying it out loud there’s probably a bunch of gamers who don’t want to talk to other people. But maybe we shouldn’t be digging deeper into our isolated gaming holes.
Xbox’s AI Copilot wants to replace a helpful friend, in the name of accessibility
The host of this episode, Ethan Rothamel, told an anecdote about how he and his mother have grown closer since the pandemic as she’s started playing more video games. Then in the same breath, imagines that Copilot could help her get through the next level in Human Fall Flat so that he doesn’t have to. I am not one to judge someone’s relationships with their family, but it feels odd to have excitement for forming a bond as well as excitement for the very thing that will make that bond unnecessary.
This is a tough topic for me not to feel biased on for a few reasons. First, this doesn’t feel like a product built for me. I’m someone who plays a lot of games, not just for work either. This has given me practically subconscious knowledge about how most games work. I know a ledge with yellow paint means I can climb on it. I have a level of comfort and knowledge with games that means I rarely need to use guides or find advice about how to get through them. But second, many of my friends and colleagues work hard every day to provide helpful information and guides to gamers that need it. Will this Copilot sidekick take over that role?
Let’s talk about what Copilot is. The concept seems to primarily give players a companion that can guide them, give recommendations, and even serve as a gaming coach. Kardar shared some proof-of-concept clips in games like Minecraft. In the Overwatch 2 clip, a player asks which character they should choose if someone else has already taken their preferred character and Copilot provides surprisingly in-depth and thoughtful recommendations. In the Minecraft clip, a new player is guided through how to play the game, step-by-step. “Gaming is the only form of entertainment where you can get stuck,” Kardar said, emphasizing the importance for some players to have a helping hand when needed.
But it’s not just for solving challenges or confusing moments in a game. Kardar also talked about how Copilot can help players find the right game for their skill level, mood, and goals. It can essentially give recommendations on what to play depending on who’s asking. Ronald added that Copilot is like “having an assistant who can actually help me understand how to just have more fun based on how I choose to play other games.” This seems great for new players, but even at the end of the podcast, while talking about new games added to the Stream Your Own Games program, Rothamel recommended Kardar to play Stardew Valley. Maybe I’m mistaken, but it seems like Copilot might be trying to replace these kinds of friendly, community building interactions on some level.
Is this something people want? Is this something that should be encouraged? I’m not sure. I appreciate the idea of encouraging new players to the gaming community and feel less intimidated about learning and asking questions. But part of me feels like maybe Xbox should be trying to foster a healthy and helpful community of gamers who are ready and willing to help people learn the ropes, rather than investing what I imagine is a fortune, into creating an artificial gaming friend. Plus, the answers to many of these questions already exist, without anyone having to talk to anyone else. Gamepressure has a wonderful guides section.
The proof-of-concept clips showcased impressive knowledge of how to play games like Minecraft, but also an impressive understanding of more competitive games like Overwatch 2, where information may not be so readily available in the game. It’s not exactly clear how Copilot will gain this information, if it’s using knowledge directly from developers, or if it finds information elsewhere. If it’s the former, that could mean that Copilot will be limited either to Xbox studios or only to developers that decide to opt in somehow. It’s also at least a little concerning how Copilot is able to comprehend what’s going on in your game. Does this mean all Xbox games will now be constantly monitored anytime someone is playing? Or just when they decide to have their Copilot sidekick around? What are Xbox and Microsoft doing with this collected information?
The first test of this Copilot feature is available on mobile devices now, through the Xbox Insiders program. Kardar and Ronald explained that the goal is to work with the community to improve Copilot’s capabilities and make it something that fits in with the gaming experience. The last thing they want is for it to suddenly appear on console in a “half-baked” way that isn’t helpful to anyone. For now, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how Copilot works, and how the Xbox gaming community, and gamers at large, react to this new feature.
