Seamus Blackley, known as the developer of the games System Shock, Flight Unlimited and Terra Nova, as well as the author of the idea for creating the Xbox console, is skeptical about the future direction of Microsoft’s gaming.
Seamus Blackley, known as the developer of the games System Shock, Flight Unlimited and Terra Nova, as well as the author of the idea for creating the Xbox console, is skeptical about the future direction of Microsoft’s gaming.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made «an incredible number of bets and invested an incredible amount of money» in the development of artificial intelligence, according to Blackley. And Xbox, like many other businesses not closely related to AI, will gradually disappear.
«They don’t say it, but that’s what’s happening. I expect new CEO Asha Sharma to play the role of a palliative care doctor, gently guiding Xbox into the night,» PC Gamer quoted Seamus Blackley as saying.
Asha Sharma was the president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product and only joined Microsoft in 2024. She recently became the company’s vice president and general manager of Xbox , replacing Phil Spencer .
In 1999, Blackley realized that part of Microsoft’s problem with supporting games on Windows was the sheer number of possible configurations they had to deal with and their attempts to standardize them through technologies like DirectX. He came up with the idea of Microsoft developing its own console with standardized hardware that could leverage the company’s influence to compete with Sony.
Seamus Blackley pitched the idea for the Xbox to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who eventually approved it and helped assemble the team that designed and built the device. He then promoted the Xbox to game developers around the world.
«There’s a core belief, and you can see it in Satya’s words, that AI is going to take over gaming like it’s going to take over everything else. The challenge for all these people is to gently transition all these business units into the new world of AI. That’s what you’re seeing here,» says Blackley.
According to him, today’s Microsoft is a company that seeks to empower its users using artificial intelligence. In his opinion, this contradicts the authorial model of any art, and especially video games.
Asha Sharma, in announcing her new role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, said one of her priorities is «a renewed commitment to Xbox, starting with the console that shaped who we are.» She also pledged to «not chase short-term efficiency or fill our ecosystem with soulless AI.»
However, many gamers share Seamus Blackley’s concerns about the future of Xbox, given Sharma’s experience with AI.
