Microsoft's next-generation gaming console, the Xbox Series X is poised to arrive on the holiday of 2020. The gaming console was officially revealed last year at The Game Awards. Ahead of its release date, a Microsoft executive drops an interesting Xbox Series X feature that fans may not have seen coming.
AI Tech on Xbox Series X
New technology being developed at Microsoft could allow the Xbox Series X to shrink download sizes of contents in the future. Microsoft Game Stack, a relatively new division of the company, is working on a technology that could significantly impact games too. In a recent talk with journalists, Microsoft Game Stack General manager James Gwertzman discussed some of their works.
He mentioned that one studio within Microsoft is working on utilizing machine learning models for asset generation, which is working 'scarily well.' The technology could be working so well that Gwertzman revealed they are considering shipping extremely low-resolution textures and have the machine learning uprez the textures in real-time. The general manager further said that you could not tell the difference between the machine-scaled and hand-authored low-res texture.
It means that it is possible to ship low-res texture and allow the machine to uprez it in no time. Gwertzman likened the technology to a magical compression where artists still have to create an assortment of assets in the game. Developers could shrink those textures down for smaller downloads, and the AI could restore them as the game is played.
The Microsoft general manager did not mention that the AI tech could be in the Xbox Series X. But, it would be an interesting feature that players would really appreciate if it could shrink download sizes. The technology offers smaller download sizes without compromising the quality of the game.
Xbox Series X No Longer Competing with PS5
A surprising revelation coming from the horse's mouth recently shocked gamers. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, in one of his recent interviews, revealed that Xbox Series X is not competing with Sony's PlayStation or Nintendo's Switch. He added that he did not consider PlayStation and Nintendo as rivals.
Instead, Spencer said that it is considering taking on Amazon and Google in the game streaming service war. Microsoft has Project xCloud and Microsoft Azure that it could use to push for its game streaming service. While game streaming has not yet become mainstream, it is already attracting a lot of interest, particularly among tech titans.
