Xbox has ambitious plans to bring AI into the world of video games with Copilot for Gaming, an AI-driven sidekick that can help players familiarise themselves with a game, receive coaching or connect with the community.
Announced by Xbox Corporate Vice President of Gaming AI Fatima Kardar during the Official Xbox Podcast, Copilot for Gaming is designed to be a personalised AI companion that would only show up when needed and not disrupt normal gameplay. In the examples seen during the podcast, the sidekick was shown recommending character choices in games like Overwatch 2, citing the player’s positive performance during previous use as its reasoning. It can also function as a tutorial bot, where players can ask and receive step-by-step instructions on how to proceed.
According to Microsoft, Copilot for Gaming is built on three principles: capability, adaptability, and personalisation, built to assist players in more ways than just the above examples, from “personalised game recommendations and seamless game setup, to helpful coaching and maintaining connections with friends.” After all, as Kardar described it, video games are the “only form of entertainment where [players] can get stuck”, justifying the need for a tool that can help overcome a gaming roadblock.
Kardar also spoke on another primary issue Copilot for Gaming aims to tackle, that being time management. In an example shown, the sidekick can be seen automatically searching up and downloading Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition on the Xbox store at a user’s request, which in theory should help players get into their games faster, and might potentially help with PC-specific woes like troubleshooting and device setting management.
As it stands, Copilot for Gaming is still in its proof of concept phase, and it will likely be a few years before such AI-driven in-game assistance becomes not only functional, but available across a larger market of users with different system configurations. As a work in progress, the sidekick’s development is taking a collaborative approach, and will attain crucial player feedback via the Xbox Insider Program, where members would “soon be able to try it and provide feedback to help shape the product direction”, with its rollout coming first on mobile before expanding to other devices.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
