Entertainment · Gaming · 1 hr ago
Microsoft forms Xbox Labs to test new gaming ideas and technologies
Microsoft has formalized Xbox Labs, a small team of game makers, engineers and scientists drawn from existing staff.
Led by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s initiative, the group will explore and test ideas for games and gaming tools.
Its work includes making games playable on Apple devices and in web browsers, as well as supporting modders and exploring new multiplayer features.
The effort follows recent fan-made projects that have adapted games to run on different hardware or combined them in new ways, sometimes using AI tools.
Xbox says the goal is to make games easier to access and give older games new life, while allowing more people to create.
The team will develop in the open and judge its work by how players and developers respond.
No products have been announced, and projects may reach users in different ways, including through the Xbox Insiders program.
Microsoft has formed Xbox Labs, a small team to test emerging ideas and technologies for games.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the team would explore ways to make games easier to access and let more players create.
The work includes research into game compatibility, browser-based distribution and support for modders.
Xbox chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet will lead the team.
A company spokesperson said Xbox Labs has no explicit directive to use AI and has no product announcements currently planned.
- Who
- Microsoft Xbox is forming the team, which will be led by Xbox chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet.
- What
- Xbox Labs will explore and test emerging ideas, tools, products and features for games.
- When
- Announced on October 13, 2026.
- Where
- Within Microsoft’s Xbox organisation.
- Why
- To explore ways to make games easier to access, give older games new life and enable more players to create.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Sharma pulled Gaming Copilot from mobile and canceled its planned console launch.
Sharma announced a restructuring that called for about 3,200 job cuts by the end of the fiscal year.
Sharma announced Xbox Labs in a memo to employees.
A company spokesperson said the team had no product announcements currently planned.
- Team name
- Xbox Labs
- Team lead
- Scott Van Vliet, Xbox chief technology officer
- Announced
- October 13, 2026
- Team size
- A small group of game makers, engineers and scientists
- Research examples
- Porting games to Apple silicon and investigating browser-based distribution
- AI directive
- No explicit directive to use AI
What people are saying
a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.
We'll build in the open, learn from what people do, and measure success by whether more people are playing and creating.
unmistakably good outcomes for players, even when (and sometimes because) they challenge our existing business models.
Xbox Labs did not have an explicit directive to use AI or any other technologies
Posts on X
Today we're standing up XBOX LABS (https://t.co/wzXPNnCmI6). Here is the note that I sent to the team: Team, The first video games emerged some 75 years ago. In the time since, there have been booms and busts, but every year there are more great games to play, more devices to
Sources
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