Xbox is officially embracing the chaos of AI-powered game ports

Microsoft is creating Xbox Labs, a small team of game makers, engineers and scientists focused on emerging ways to modify and run games. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma says the group will share its work and assess whether it encourages more playing and creating.

The move follows recent projects that have adapted games for different platforms, including running some PC games on Apple Silicon or in web browsers. Other examples include mods that bring skateboarding into Call of Duty and let Halo run in a browser.

Many of these efforts use AI tools to help remix game code. Sharma says they challenge traditional ideas about the links between games and hardware, and between making games and playing them.

Microsoft sees potential in making games easier to access, reviving older titles and enabling more people to create. The company acknowledges that such changes may also put pressure on established business models.

Xbox Labs will investigate these possibilities, while independent modders continue work that resembles Microsoft’s backward-compatibility efforts. The article says future advances could make more modern games run beyond the hardware they were designed for.