Microsoft walks back the gaming AI it showed off in Overwatch 2 last week, says it will only be added if devs don't think it's "unfair"

Junker Queen - Overwatch 2
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Xbox recently announced it would be rolling out its Copilot AI to give us all tips on how we play our games, but now the company appears to be backpedalling a bit as the potential for cheating in games like Overwatch 2 is called into question.

As reported by PCGamesN, during a GDC talk, The Future of Gaming Supported by AI: How Xbox is Empowering Players and Creators, Microsoft's VP of gaming AI Fatima Kardar says her team has been touring developer studios to "explore what it would look like if Copilot had a much deeper understanding of a particular game."

Regarding Overwatch 2, Kardar says: "Here we looked at systems opportunities pre-match, making recommendations on hero selection based on player history, team composition, and maps. We also looked at opportunities for post-match coaching where we can advise you on what went wrong and what you could do differently next time. While these are mostly concepts, and not planned features for Overwatch, they help illustrate what is possible with experiences like Copilot as you bring them closer to your game."

So, right now, all the Copilot AI stuff isn't definitely going to be implemented in all games, but concepts are being explored. There are some who think it could be cheating, however.

PCGamesN asks how these features differ from third-party tools that also provide information to us but have been banned by games like Marvel Rivals. Karadar replies, "The exploration [of Copilot] is based on what the game's creator thinks. If they think that's going to give [players] an unfair advantage, then absolutely not… At the end of the day, you know your game the best [...] If it makes sense that it shouldn't be [in the game], then it won't be. If it does, maybe they will."

Kardar also clarified that the AI-assisted Overwatch 2 footage shown "is an exploration, this is not what we're actually doing. We're trying to figure out different things." So, rather than an automatic AI chatbot on every game you play, developers should have a say in how and if Copilot is used with their games.

In the meantime, check out all the best Xbox Series X games you can play right now before the AI gets to it.

Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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