Xbox thinks AI can make you a better gamer. Xbox has announced its new "Copilot for Gaming", dropping the news this morning on The Official Xbox Podcast. A new AI assistant for console, mobile, and perhaps PC, Copilot for Gaming promises to help with all parts of the gaming experience — from picking a new game, to picking up where you left off in an old save file, to getting good at skill-based games.
Fatima Kardar, Xbox's CVP of Gaming AI, and Jason Ronald, VP of Next Generation, joined Xbox's in-house podcast to explain what an AI assistant for consoles looks like. Copilot for Gaming comes as a way to help address common pain points for gamers, like returning to an old save file completely lost in the narrative or hitting what feels like the skill ceiling in an FPS. "Gaming is the only form of entertainment where you can get stuck," shared Kardar. "So that’s where you want something to show up to say, 'let’s help you get past that.'"
Copilot for Gaming seeks to be a multi-device helper, living on both the console and the Xbox mobile app (no clarification was made as to whether Copilot for Gaming will come to PC gamers, but as the podcast also highlighted Xbox's "Play Anywhere" initiative, it is likely to arrive on PC as well). As new generations grow used to using multiple devices at once, Xbox aims to be a simultaneously multi-device experience.
No features of Copilot for Gaming are locked-in or official at the time of writing, with Kardar and Ronald selling Copilot on the promises of what can be and extremely early-access video clips. In the podcast and accompanying blog post, Xbox shows off a wide array of possible features: giving personalized game recommendations, recapping your save file progress as it downloads an old favorite, or giving tips in between respawns in Overwatch, from what hero to counter-pick against a dominant enemy to how exactly you misplayed in an embarrassing clip. (see 15:19 and 17:59 in the video below for a staged Overwatch concept and live Minecraft demo)
In total, Copilot for Gaming claims no fewer than 10 unique features. Some are expansions of existing features, like adding the save-file recap as you download games to your Xbox from your phone or suggesting new titles to play next, while others are wholly game-specific. Copilot can give Minecraft game tips, including helping you retrace your steps to find ores you missed in your peripheral vision when cheats are enabled in-game. Ronald even claims Copilot will also help players pick new characters or playstyles based on their tastes in different game titles.
While Xbox's Copilot claims should be taken with a grain of salt, as Kardar clarifies that no features are final or shippable just yet, the pitch does make some points that are innovative in the gaming AI space. Razer's Project Ava and Nvidia's Project G-Assist, two other gaming-focused AI helpers announced as concepts in the past year, share some of Xbox's general gameplay advice claims, but lack the meta-experience features that Xbox can offer by "Recalling" old game files and advising new games to play.
"It's not just about AI showing up to help you. It's about AI showing up at the right moment," Kardar continued. "I think we have to really think of the experience that we build; it can't be intrusive." An extremely early-access version of Copilot for Gaming will come soon to Xbox Insider Program members via the Xbox mobile app in the coming days. Kardar and Ronald both clarified that Copilot for Gaming will be hitting early access shockingly early in its development cycle, for the benefit of receiving player feedback to lay the foundation of what to focus development on.
Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant for PCs has been justifiably critiqued for having a name that writes checks its performance cannot cash; with very few novel features beyond the controversial "Recall", Copilot can feel more like an untrained, uninvited passenger on your PC. Copilot for Gaming so far seems to come much closer to living up to its Copilot name, assuming Xbox can provide the breadth of promises they made today.
Xbox will share more about Copilot for Gaming at GDC 2025 next week, so be sure to tune into our coverage of the event for more details on this and any other hardware-related announcements at the gaming trade show.
