We've heard quite a lot already this year about Xbox's plans to integrate AI in a big way, particularly in the form of something called ""Muse", which is a new generative AI model that's intended to help creators build their games.
Microsoft has insisted it wants to "stay true to the creative vision and artistry of game developers" while implementing generative AI, and so it's not mandated - which has been echoed by Compulsion Games founder Guillaume Provost.
Speaking to Game Developer a few days ago, Provost confirmed that it's not being forced on his team:
"I can absolutely guarantee [that generative AI usage] is not mandated. You're talking to the studio that literally builds s**t by hand. In the DNA of the studio that we have, we're very craft oriented. We're very art oriented."
Provost went on to explain that Compulsion Games probably won't use generative AI as much as other Xbox studios due to the "types of games that we make", but there are cases where it could be useful in pre-production.
In terms of a future where it "democratises" development and allows creatives without the technical skills or expertise to essentially catch up, he feels it's possible. However, he also suggests AI won't ever "replace artistic choice".
"That's the long-charted route for where that goes. I don't think it ever replaces artistic choice. Somebody always needs to decide [for instance] when you make a green chair or a blue chair, whether they go well together. The type of DNA that we have, would use AI where it is useful and disregard it elsewhere."
In related news, Microsoft recently used generative AI to create a new demo of Quake 2 that's actually playable on the company's website right now, but it received largely negative feedback from Xbox fans when it was launched.
You can find out more about that in the first of our two "related articles" down below: