Xbox Launches Labs to Explore AI Game Modding Across 72 Billion Annual Play Hours
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Oct 13
Xbox Launches Labs to Explore AI Game Modding Across 72 Billion Annual Play Hours
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Oct 13
Summary
Xbox has formed Xbox Labs, a small team of game makers, engineers and scientists to test AI-driven decompiling, recompiling and remixing of games.
Asha Sharma said the move follows a recent surge in mods that port Windows games to Apple Silicon, run titles in browsers, and merge code across games in ways that blur hardware and creation boundaries.
WebAssembly and WebGPU are helping drive those experiments, with WebGPU now nearing 90% global browser support, while Xbox says it will build in the open and share tools with developers.
Microsoft framed the effort as a way to extend access to older games and turn more players into creators, even as Sharma acknowledged such advances can challenge existing business models.
The company also reiterated its commitment to hardware and IP stewardship, but did not answer questions about how it will handle unauthorized use of Microsoft-owned game assets.