Xbox announces 'a generative AI model for gameplay ideation' called Muse, but don't get too excited: Machines aren't about to make games for you just yet
«In nearly every corner of our lives, the buzz about AI is impossible to ignore,» Microsoft said in today's announcement of its new generative AI model called Muse, and that is absolutely true. «It’s destined to revolutionize how we work, learn, and play,» it continued, and well, I'm not so sure about that part. But Microsoft seems determined to roll with it, saying, «At Xbox, we’re all about using AI to make things better (and more fun!) for players and game creators.»
Created in a partnership between Microsoft Research and Xbox studio Ninja Theory, developer of the Hellblade games, Muse is a «world and human action model (WHAM)» trained on Ninja Theory's Bleeding Edge.
«What’s groundbreaking about Muse is its detailed understanding of the 3D game world, including game physics and how the game reacts to players’ controller actions,» Microsoft corporate vice president of gaming AI Fatima Kardar wrote. «This allows the model to create consistent and diverse gameplay rendered by AI, demonstrating a major step toward generative AI models that can empower game creators.»
Microsoft acknowledged that «it's still early,» but predicted that Muse could be used for «faster creative ideation,» presumably by making it easier for developers to chuck in new stuff for the machine to play to see how it works. Interestingly, though, an even greater focus was put on the system's potential for game preservation.
«Today, countless classic games tied to aging hardware are no longer playable by most people,» Kardar wrote. «Thanks to this breakthrough, we are exploring the potential for Muse to take older back catalog games from our studios and optimize them for any device. We believe this could radically change how we preserve and experience classic games in the future and make them accessible to more players.»
Xbox boss Phil Spencer dove more deeply into that aspect of Microsoft's ambitions for Muse in a supplementary video, saying the potential impact on game preservation is «one of
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