After a solid couple of years pushing Copilot, Microsoft’s proprietary LLM (Large Language Model) AI, onto everything it can, the company has announced that it’s ceasing development for both mobile and Xbox. While this doesn’t yet consistute the bursting of the AI bubble that so many of us are anticipating, it does appear to be another step towards that outcome. All I can say is, if this attitude holds, good riddance.

The leadership shakeup at Xbox has already resulted in a number of policy changes that, for the moment, are making it look like the company is taking the brand in a more consumer-friendly direction. Game Pass saw a $7 decrease (with access to games like Call of Duty removed) and now they don’t plan on bothering us with Copilot. It’s not much, but it’s something at least.

As with all these large companies (looking at YOU now Sony), it’s best not to trust anything they say. Heck, don’t even trust them if they’re consistently doing pro-consumer things. Seriously, not even Valve. I love Valve, but trust just should not be involved in the relationship between companies (especially tech companies) and consumers. You absolutely must keep your options open and be ready to take your business elsewhere the moment they try to take advantage. It’s the only way to keep them honest.

As for this story, Insider Gaming reported on a social media post by current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in which she stated that development of Copilot for consoles will cease and that it’ll begin winding down for mobile. Part of the reasoning given reads: “Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.” So, perhaps this is Xbox admitting that Copilot is just plain unpopular.

This could be Xbox’s attempt to salvage the brand and prevent Microsoft from shuttering it, which the parent company really seems to want to do. It came out a few months ago that Microsoft desires a 30% profit margin from Xbox (which is insane) and has been demanding it since at least 2023, so it could be that the tech giant is looking for an excuse to cut its losses and discontinue its gaming business. Whether Xbox will be successful in its bid to justify its existence is anyone’s guess, but I feel that it’s doubtful.

Between Xbox’s overpriced aimlessness, Sony’s continued boldness with hardware pricing and anti-consumer decisions with PSN, and Nintendo jumping head first into its latest era of corporate greed, confidence in gaming consoles is steadily declining. You see tons of people now regretting their purchases from all of these companies, with many swearing off console gaming entirely once this generation is done.

And who can blame them? Pricing is reaching PC territory, and PCs come with greater game variety, better user experience, no paid online services and just overall more utility. If you have to drop a bunch of money anyway, why not get a low- to mid-tier PC instead of a console? You get more from your money in the short-term and won’t get steadily milked for even more in the long-term. I feel that Sony, Nintendo and Xbox (Microsoft) have practically killed their future business because of their actions over the past five years. They just don’t realize it yet.

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What do you think of this latest move by Microsoft? Do you think it’ll make any difference?

Image is promotional artwork.