Microsoft creates XBOX LABS to prototype game tech publicly
XBOX chief Asha Sharma said the small team of creators, engineers and scientists will release ideas publicly and learn from player reactions.
Microsoft announced on October 13 the launch of XBOX LABS, a new experimental division that will prototype and publicly release new ideas for games, learning from how users react to them. Asha Sharma, CEO of Microsoft's gaming division XBOX, announced the unit in a message to XBOX employees worldwide published on the official blog XBOX Wire.
XBOX LABS is a small group made up of game creators, engineers and scientists. According to forest.watch.impress.co.jp, the division's stated aim is to get more people to play and create games, and tools produced from what the group learns will be shared with developers across the industry.
In the message, Sharma said XBOX games are played for more than 72 billion hours a year, which she described as about five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide.
Experiments beyond the console
Games have recently been decompiled quickly and rebuilt to run on hardware they were not intended for. Windows PC builds have been ported to run on Apple silicon or in web browsers using WebAssembly and WebGPU, and large global games have been remixed into the source code of other games.
The message also points to XBOX's 25 years of game-making knowledge, and notes that AI agents first achieved major results in programming.
Quick answers
What is XBOX LABS?
A small experimental division at Microsoft made up of game creators, engineers and scientists that will prototype and publicly release new ideas.
Who announced XBOX LABS?
Asha Sharma, CEO of Microsoft's gaming division XBOX, in a message to employees published on the official blog XBOX Wire.