Microsoft Announces Gaming Event For This Month, But Don't Get Too Excited

With the next generation of Xbox gaming consoles officially here, Microsoft's ready to talk about what developers can expect from the technology that powers these devices when it hosts its AI and Gaming Research Summit. The February 23-24 event won't be a showcase of games similar to Microsoft's previous livestreams though, but will instead be focused on the future of how games are made and played.

Two big names will be speaking at the event: Xbox executive vice president of gaming Phil Spencer and corporate vice president of Xbox Software Engineering at Microsoft, Kareem Choudhry. According to the official page for the AI and Gaming Research Summit, the show will have four key themes that will discuss how artificial intelligence and machine learning is transforming the landscape of gaming:

• AI Agents for gameplay and game testing
• Responsible Gaming, including ethics, safety, and inclusivity
• Computational creativity and content generation
• Understanding Players, player engagement, and analytics

The show will likely be a valuable collaboration between academics and game developers looking to share ideas with each other, but E3 2021 it certainly isn't. If you're still interested in seeing just how much work goes on behind the scenes in creating interactive entertainment, you can register for a virtual seat through this link.

As for a more mainstream gaming convention, the Electronic Software Association has plans for a digital version of E3 and Blizzard is also going down that route later this month with its BlizzCon substitute, BlizzConOnline 2021.