Last week, we were introduced to a new generative AI model called "Muse" - something that Xbox is using to try and assist game creators in building new titles, and even potentially make things easier to preserve them in the future.

An example was shown at the time based around Bleeding Edge - the cancelled Ninja Theory game - and how the generative AI team was using that title for research purposes in order to develop 'Muse' and show creators what was possible. In example footage, it was shown how the model could generate "complex gameplay sequences" over multiple minutes by predicting how the game would evolve based around just one second of human gameplay.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also been weighing in on this recently, speaking a bit about the 'Muse' model on the Dwarkesh Podcast. During the chat, Nadella explained why he thinks it's a "massive 'wow' moment for the gaming team:

Satya Nadella, Microsoft: "One thing that we wanted to go after was, using gameplay data, can you actually generate games that are both consistent and then have the ability to generate the diversity of what that game represents and then are persistent to user mods, right? So that’s what this is."

"We’re going to have a catalog of games soon that we will start using these models, or we’re going to train these models to generate, and then start playing them. And in fact, when Phil Spencer first showed it to me, he had an Xbox controller and this model basically took the input and generated the output based on the input and it was consistent with the game. And that to me is a massive, massive moment of, ‘wow’."

If you find yourself scratching your head about this (as we do to be honest!), we'll break it down a bit - Xbox wants to utilise this generative AI model for gameplay ideation, allowing creators to harness its captabilities to build the best possible games.

Xbox says the 'Muse' AI model can "boost creativity and open up new possibilities", but the company remains keen to "stay true to the creative vision and artistry of game developers". Because of that, there will be no mandate for studios to utilise the model to any specific degree - it will simply depend on what each developer wants to do.

And, in the interview with Nadella, he stressed that AI models are not just a simple fix for creating great games:

Satya Nadella, Microsoft: "I wouldn't say that we invested in gaming to build models... gaming has got a long history at the company and we want to be in gaming for gaming's sake. I hate to be in businesses where there are means to some other end."

"We definitely think that [AI] can be helpful - it's kind of like the CGI moment for gaming long-term... but at the same time, you've got to produce great quality games. You can't be a gaming publisher without first and foremost being focused on that."

If you haven't watched it yet, we highly recommend checking out the video at the top of this article about Xbox's generative AI plans and how the brand intends to move forward with them - there are some particularly interesting comments from Ninja Theory's Dom Matthews where he explains that his studio won't be using it to generate content.

We'll leave you with a bit of his explanation - it's an intriguing perspective from his side of things right now:

Dom Matthews, Ninja Theory: "For me, and I think for our studio here, it's not about using AI to generate content. It's actually about creating workflows and approaches that allow our team here of 100 creative experts to do more, to go further, to iterate quicker, to ideate quicker..."

What do you make of all this? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below.

[source dwarkeshpatel.com, via videogameschronicle.com]