(Image courtesy of Xbox Wire. “Microsoft’s upcoming ‘Copilot for Gaming’ has not been received well by gamers.”)
Aaron Preziosi
Connector Editor
On March 13, 2025, on the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft announced Copilot for Gaming, an implementation of its flagship GPT-4o system into the Xbox family of systems. Intended to aid struggling players and increase efficiency, Copilot will be able to see what players are doing and assist them in real-time with advice and hints. Fatima Kardar, Xbox Corporate Vice President of Gaming AI said “Gaming is the only form of entertainment where you can get stuck. So that’s where you want something to show up to say, ‘let’s help you get past that.’” She also said, “All of it is with one goal: to help you to get to play first.”
Microsoft has been portraying Copilot for Gaming as an “ultimate gaming sidekick,” something that can install games for players, help them “play faster, sharpen skills with expert coaching, and enjoy a more social gaming experience.” It seems as if Microsoft wants to use this AI tool to help players to get better, but there has yet to be any news clarifying whether or not it will be optional. It will be available for preview to Xbox Insiders on a mobile app “soon,” according to Kardar, but the full depth of features has yet to be revealed.
However, some players have raised questions regarding the reliability of Copilot for Gaming’s advice. Following a previous demonstration of Copilot assisting a player in Minecraft, tech journal Ars Technica said “These kinds of in-game pointers aren’t the most revolutionary use of conversational AI—even a basic in-game tutorial/reference system or online walkthrough could deliver the same basic information, after all.” Additionally, players have voiced negative opinions for the large language model-driven tool online. Reddit r/gaming user xCycloneblaze says “I don’t want to be efficient while I am playing, I am not wasting my time if I can’t beat the game at speedrun pace.” Another user, snappums, says “Nice to see that Microsoft want to take the thinking out of gaming like Netflix want to take the thinking out of watching TV/movies. I am more efficient when I am not wasting time talking to a chatbot, actually.” One Ars Technica OpenForum user, timby, said “This feels like the textbook definition of a solution desperately in need of a problem.”
Kardar continues in the Xbox Wire article, saying “engaging with features like this will be in the control of the player, when – and if – they choose. Player feedback is crucial in this journey; through the Xbox Insider Program, players will soon be able to try it and provide feedback to help shape the product direction—beginning first on mobile and gradually expanding across devices.” However, specific details such as when ‘soon’ is, or what devices Kardar is referring to within the Xbox family have yet to be disclosed. With such little information to go on, and an abundance of familiarity already in the community, it seems gamers are either reluctant or unwilling to embrace Microsoft’s AI Copilot, just as its desktop equivalent has been met with indifference at best, and resentment at worst.
