Wait wait but what if we made fps games like casinos?

That's a bit different, because he's selling finished products. He can just check all the boxes from star wars over dnd to collectible card games and order the value pack from a middle man and then it's all about the location of the shop and the competition in the area.

You don't have to understand why a specific product works if what you're doing is essentially providing a mixed physical storefront for a bunch of corporations.

But this lady is now going to have to make important strategic decisions, about which games to give funding, which ones to cancel, what kind of hardware to even envision.

Compare it to valve, who sat down and build their own controller and handheld, because they looked at 20 years of market and product development and thought they could do better and delivered. You have to know a lot about why you want hardware for what purpose and what makes it better or worse for that purpose to do that.

XBOX, theoretically, same as any other big name in media, could be the place where a new media franchise is born that dominates the next 50 years of pop culture. THAT is the kind of position this is.

That they won't because they can't "build the next skyrim / WoW" is kind of the problem.

It sucks to say, but I'd actually wager there's more game developers and designers that don't play games regularly than ones that do. The time and mental investment necessary to create games doesn't tend to leave much room for enjoying them.

But probably really should at least consider yourself a fan of games in the industry, even if you can't keep up playing the latest and greatest.

I'd go further and compare this to actors who many times will never watch the finished product. IIRC, John de Lancie voiced Discord in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic but never watched any of the episodes until the fandom really took off. He was surprised this small role he forgot he even did gained such popularity! I'm sure he's seen a number of episodes by now, especially since he later reprised his role

He also had honor and dignity. Rare attributes in company leadership these days.

Sure, but I'm still surprised a microsoft employee would say something like this publicly given the company's apparent need to shove LLMs and generative slop into every nook and cranny in their products.

I think they're using AI as the umbrella term there, rather than referring to LLMs and generative slop. The term has been used to mean many different things over the years, including the decision trees that drive npc movement and action.

Except for the whole 100% console failure rate and hiding and lying about it to everyone TO THIS VERY DAY.

And introducing and standardizing subscription online services in an otherwise previously free and good-will culture.

And predatory, hostile payment behaviors and many other awful dark patterns.

Microsoft joining gaming might be the singular worst thing to ever happen to gaming.

To this day, they're destroying everything they touch, and in case you forgot, the AI boom that Microsoft is funding and pushing is the reason nobody can get hardware and is actively making other platforms worse and holding back steam hardware.

Games for Windows live.

Also, anything remotely good they've "done" has also been an acquisition and has ultimately rotted under them.

...and then the "kiss of death" to studios team.

I have fond memories of the og Xbox and the 360, guess I can’t really speak past that for enjoying them since that’s the last Xbox i owned