In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Xbox co-founder Seamus Blackley reflected on where he believes Microsoft and Xbox are heading next.
Blackley helped co-create the original Xbox, convincing Microsoft to enter the console market in the early 2000s. Without that push, the Xbox brand as we know it may never have existed.
Why Blackley believes Xbox is being “sunsetted”
In the interview with GamesBeat, Blackley states:
From Microsoft. Satya Nadella has made an incredible number of bets and invested an incredible amount of money and credibility in the transform model AI future. Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted. They don’t say that, but that’s what’s happening. I expect that the new CEO, Asha Sharma, her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night.
Seamus Blackley
It is a sharp comment, and importantly, one rooted in his own interpretation of Microsoft’s broader AI strategy.
Internally, people at Xbox remain cautious, worried Sharma will push AI more, according to The Verge. While Sharma’s background is in AI, her work has largely focused on machine learning, but she helped grow GitHub Copilot.
Blackley’s concern appears to center on Microsoft’s wider push into AI across the company. When asked about Sharma’s comments that Microsoft does not want to create “AI slop,” he responded:
Some people coming from outside businesses succeed in games, and others just hit the wall, because it’s a content business and they don’t expect that. They’re not ready for that. They think it’s a compute business, or they think it’s a rendering business, or they think it’s a software business. Games is none of those things. It’s hilarious, but it’s none of those things. Her statement, or the statement that was written for her in the press release, saying that she was looking forward to seeing what makes games work or something like that, was hilarious. It reminded me of that meme. ‘Hello, fellow kids!’ I’ll now figure out what’s interesting about games! Oh, boy. Wow. There may be more than you think. People have succeeded at that before. Maybe she will.
Seamus Blackley
Again, these are strong remarks from one of Xbox’s founders. Whether his prediction proves accurate remains to be seen and you can read the full interview, linked here.
For now, I am cautiously optimistic. A shift in leadership could be the reset Xbox needs, even as many of us, myself included, appreciate what Phil Spencer did for the brand.
Do you think Microsoft’s AI focus will ultimately be the death of Xbox?
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