Microsoft Plan To Utilize New AI To Revive Classic Games
Microsoft has recently unveiled Muse, their newest generative AI that they are hoping will help developers preserve their classic games in the long term.
Though the Backwards Compatibility Program for Xbox 360 has died out, overall game preservation lives on
In the ongoing battle for games preservation, few companies actually put in an effort to ensure beloved games stand the test of time. And though some would argue they are not doing enough, Microsoft is one of the few focusing on the history of games, not just looking towards the future. To help try and future-proof classic games, Microsoft has announced their new Muse AI, hoping developers will use it to protect games they have developed.
Microsoft has a history of trying to preserve past games. While the original Xbox 360 could play XBOX games, it took a few years for them to implement the Backwards Compatibility Program for the Xbox One to play Xbox 360 games. While they were unsuccessful in getting every X360 game on the Xbox One due to licensing and other issues, they still received praise when compared to Sony which only let players stream certain classic games at the time.
Now that they have spent the past few years investing in AI, Microsoft plans to bring some of that tech to their Xbox division. Microsoft partnered with their own Xbox Games Studio, Ninja Theory, to develop Muse in a way that would let developers expand upon their work in brand new ways, hoping to broaden the horizons of game development. In doing so, Microsoft hopes to use this AI to preserve classic games available on any system.
Speaking on an Xbox Wire blog post over on their website, Corporate Vice President of Gaming AI Fatima Kardar said “Today, countless classic games tied to aging hardware are no longer playable by most people. Thanks to this breakthrough, we are exploring the potential for Muse to take older back catalog games from our studios and optimize them for any device. We believe this could radically change how we preserve and experience classic games in the future and make them accessible to more players.”
While AI has grown in the past few years, there are people on both sides of its use in gaming. If it is possible to restore and access a large catalogue of older titles, I’m all for it. Only time will tell how it pans out. What’s your opinion on this new push with AI? Sound off down below.
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