Microsoft to Integrate Copilot AI into Xbox App and Games

As Microsoft continues to integrate artificial intelligence across its products, it's gearing up to introduce its AI Copilot into the Xbox gaming experience. This innovative feature aims to provide gamers with personalized advice, help them pick up where they left off in their games, and handle various other tasks to enhance their gaming journey.

The rollout of Copilot for gaming will begin with Xbox Insiders through the Xbox mobile app in the near future for testing purposes. For those unfamiliar, Copilot is Microsoft's AI chatbot, which has already replaced Cortana in 2023 and is integrated into Windows. The gaming version of Copilot will launch with several key features. Users can command it to install games on their Xbox, a task currently achievable with a single button press in the app. Additionally, it can provide insights into your play history, achievements, and game library, or suggest what to play next. While playing, you can interact with Copilot directly through the Xbox app, receiving responses in a manner similar to how it functions on Windows.

One of the most significant features highlighted by Microsoft is Copilot's role as a gaming assistant. Currently, you can ask Copilot for help with game-related queries on PC, such as strategies to defeat a boss or solve a puzzle, and it will pull answers from Bing, drawing from various online guides, websites, wikis, and forums. Soon, this functionality will extend to the Xbox app as well.

Microsoft is committed to ensuring that Copilot provides the most accurate game knowledge. They are collaborating with game studios to ensure that the information Copilot provides aligns with the studios' vision, and it will direct players back to the original sources of the information.

Microsoft's ambitions for Copilot don't stop at the initial features. In a press briefing, spokespeople discussed potential future uses, such as serving as a walkthrough assistant to explain game mechanics, remembering item locations within games, or guiding players to new items. It could also act as a real-time strategy advisor in competitive games, offering tips to counter opponents' moves or explaining game engagements. While these are currently just concepts, Microsoft is keen on deeply integrating Copilot into the regular Xbox gameplay experience. They confirmed plans to work not only with first-party studios but also with third-party studios to integrate Copilot into their games.

When asked about user control over Copilot, Microsoft stated that during the mobile preview, Xbox Insiders can opt out and decide how and when they interact with Copilot, including whether it has access to their conversation history and what actions it performs on their behalf. Microsoft emphasized transparency regarding data collection, usage, and user choices about sharing personal data. However, they left open the possibility that Copilot might become mandatory in the future.

Beyond player-focused applications, Microsoft will also explore developer uses for Copilot, with more details to be shared at the Game Developers Conference next week.