Microsoft has announced Muse, a generative AI that will help developers create game environments and interactions by speeding up the prototyping process and possibly upgrading classic games for the latest gaming hardware.
Microsoft Research collaborated with Xbox studio Ninja Theory to develop Muse. They used gameplay data from Bleeding Edge spanning over 7 years. It learned to create 3D environments and react to player actions.
Microsoft has also shared that the company is exploring Muse to revamp classic games.
According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft Research’s game intelligence team demonstrated Muse in a press briefing and generated gaming visuals in real time.
However, the quality of the visuals remains low at 300 x 180 pixels. This is an improvement compared to Microsoft’s earlier model, which only generated 128 x 128 resolution. Still, it’s a long way off from 1080p resolution.
Muse can do this by analyzing the gameplay data and visuals of old games and running them on the latest gaming platforms without the need for the original hardware these games were initially built for.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, calls it an opportunity to preserve classic games, which have been Xbox’s priority for years.
Microsoft has clarified that Muse is only a tool to assist creators in their gameplay and visual design rather than replace them. Moreover, Xbox studios will have the choice to use AI in their games as they see fit.
The corporate vice president of gaming AI, Fatima Kardar, said the AI works alongside human creativity rather than overpowering it.
The head of Ninja Theory studio also reassured that the purpose of Muse is not to develop entire games but to make specific processes in the game development efficient and smooth.
The gaming community is skeptical about Xbox AI model
According to a recent survey, 1 in 10 game developers were let go of their positions in 2024 due to continued layoffs in the gaming industry across major companies.
Founder of The Outsiders studio David Goldfarb, who has also been a game developer for most of his life, said in a direct message to Wired that AI supporters are only looking for ways to reduce development costs.
Goldfarb added that by doing so, they are also “devaluing millions of collective years of aesthetic effort by game developers and artists.”
Microsoft shared that the research process included 27 game creators around the globe “to make sure the research was shaped by the people who would use it.”
In response to a deleted X post about Muse’s announcement, Goldfarb’s reaction was, “Fu*k this shit.”
One developer said, “They don’t see that nobody will want this. They don’t CARE that nobody will want this.” The developer added that “EVERYONE fears being against” AI in internal discussions at Xbox and chooses to remain quiet as one could lose their job for doing so.
According to another developer, “The real target of this model is not game developers but shareholders, to show that Microsoft is all in on AI, which has yet to deliver a product that anyone wants.”
Furthermore, as prototyping requires designers to improve ideas through continuous iterations, AI can’t go deeper into the details like human creativity during the process.
Marc Burrage, development director at Creative Assemble, said, “Prototyping is as much about the journey as the result, and you need to have been on it to get all those learnings.”
As Muse is still in an experimental stage, Microsoft will share AI tools with Xbox users and creators for their early feedback. The company wants to be sure these AI innovations “address real problems and add new value to creating or playing with Xbox,” said Phil Spencer.
The company will also soon provide brief interactive AI experiences on Copilot Labs.
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