Phil Spencer’s replacement by an AI evangelist at Xbox has players fearing for the future of the company: ‘I don’t want to be a doomer, but this doesn’t look good’

Xbox image

Phil Spencer is officially exiting his role at Xbox after spending over a decade at the helm. He’s been with Microsoft for nearly 40 years, having joined as an intern all the way back in 1988. His replacement is a former president of one of Microsoft’s AI divisions, and though she staunchly denied AI’s involvement in the future of Microsoft Gaming, not everyone is convinced.

The new CEO of Xbox will be Asha Sharma, the recent president of Microsoft’s CoreAI division. She joined the company in 2024 and doesn’t really have much gaming background to speak of. What she does have is experience in leadership positions, having been a COO at Intercart and the president of Meta’s product and engineering department before eventually hopping into Microsoft’s AI side.

Sharma is a firm supporter of artificial intelligence and its real-world applications. In fact, she thinks AI solutions in medicine and healthcare could potentially reverse the effects of declining global fertility rates, saying in one podcast that AI solutions in the UK improved pregnancy rates while “cutting costs at the same time.” She also praised GPT-5 for its role in improving healthcare, as well as how AI is being used at Stanford to amplify tumor reviews.

To put it simply: Sharma is quite supportive of artificial intelligence solutions, but, for whatever reason, wants us to believe it’s out of the question at Xbox.

In an internal email shared with Microsoft staff amid her appointment as Xbox head, Sharma said the following: “As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”

Sharma is a staunch supporter of AI solutions across the board, so it’s safe to assume she’d want to see it in video games as well.

This bit, while encouraging, could be taken as a string of recognizable buzzwords strung together for immediate effect, rather than to reflect long-term strategies. I’m not the only one smelling a rat: most of the people responding to Sharma’s new position are having a hard time believing such a staunch AI supporter would declare the technology verboten at her new job.

“I don’t want to be a doomer, but this doesn’t look good,” one Reddit user wrote in response to Sharma’s prior tenure as Core AI president. “Having an AI exec in charge does not breed confidence,” said another. “Something’s really fucking terrifying to me about someone from AI taking over as head of the agency,” wrote another still.

The sentiments among gamers are very gloomy, with many thinking this could spell the end of Xbox as we know it.

Spencer’s tenure as Xbox president wasn’t the best, but his role in turning the tide for Xbox One, as well as in introducing the Game Pass service and multiplatformity as a default for publishers, will be remembered quite fondly. A lot of bad has happened in between, however, but I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it yet.

Sharma could have been quite sincere in her email, and she does seem to want to engage with gaming in a different way, but her career doesn’t inspire hope that Xbox will once again become the beacon of the industry. AI, no matter what, is a fundamental stain on art.

The post Phil Spencer’s replacement by an AI evangelist at Xbox has players fearing for the future of the company: ‘I don’t want to be a doomer, but this doesn’t look good’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Fantasy FC promo image in FC 26

The Fantasy FC promo is now live in FC 26, and it has introduced several live cards to Ultimate Team.

All cards released as part of the promo will be eligible for upgrades in the near future. The upgrades will depend on how the players perform in real life. Moreover, the performances of their respective clubs will also be considered.

This guide will help you keep track of all incoming upgrades as they happen.

Complete FC 26 Fantasy FC Upgrade tracker

It’s important to understand how the upgrades will be applied. The system is slightly different for Heroes (more on that later).

  • Club gets six points in the next four matches: +1 overall rating and all Role++ in every position
  • Club scores 10 goals in the next four matches: One face stat randomly upgrades to 99
  • Player scores (for attackers and midfielders) or keeps a clean sheet (for goalkeepers and defenders) in the next four matches: +1PS+ (if 2 PS+, then only PS) and +1 PS
  • Player gets six attacking contributions (attacker/midfielder) or 12 defensive contributions in the next four matches (defender/goalkeeper): Five-star weak foot or Five-star skill moves
Player NameClubClub PointsClub GoalsGoals, Assists or Clean SheetsContributionsRating
MoritaSporting0/60/100/10/687
FreemanVillareal0/60/100/10/1287
Kaplan Nijmegen0/60/100/10/1287
ScamaccaAtalanta0/60/100/10/687
Francisco MouraPorto0/60/100/10/1287
LarsenCrystal Palace0/60/100/10/688
SchlotterbeckAugsburg3/63/100/15/1288
GiovaneNapoli0/60/100/10/688
KogelBayer Leverkusen0/60/100/10/688
SimonBayern Munich0/60/100/10/688
LeuchterPSG3/63/103/14/688
Aleix GarciaBayer Leverkusen0/60/100/10/689
MalenRoma0/60/100/10/689
CanceloBarcelona0/60/100/10/1289
CatleyArsenal0/60/100/10/1289
LangGalatasaray0/60/100/10/689
Ricardo HortaBraga0/60/100/10/689
ChilwellStrasbourg0/60/100/10/1289
DiabyAl Itihad0/60/100/10/690
Douglas LuizAston Villa0/60/100/10/690
Unai SimonBilbao3/62/100/11/1290
UndavStuttgart0/60/100/10/690
SemenyoManchester City0/60/100/10/690
Salma ParallueloBarcelona0/60/100/10/691
LewandowskiBarcelona0/60/100/10/691
EndrickLyon0/60/100/10/691
Joao FelixAl Nassr0/60/100/10/691
Bruno FernandesManchester United0/60/100/10/692
Cole PalmerChelsea1/61/100/13/692
Rafa LeaoAC Milan0/60/100/10/692
KoulibalyAl Hilail0/60/100/10/1288

Heroes

Since Heroes are former players, they have slightly different rules for upgrades.

  • Club gets six points in the next four matches: +1 overall rating and all Role++ in every position
  • Club scores 10 goals in the next four matches: One face stat randomly upgrades to 99
NameClubClub PointsClub GoalsRating
RosickyBorussia Dortmund0/60/1088
NoorAl Ittihad0/60/1088
BrolinLeeds United0/60/1089
Jill ScottManchester City0/60/1089
Clint DempseyTottenham Hotspurs0/60/1089
GervinhoArsenal0/60/1089
Paulo FutrePorto0/60/1090
Al OwairanAl Shadab3/63/1090
StamAjax0/60/1091
Yaya ToureManchester city0/60/1092
Antonio Di NataleUdinese0/60/1092

Additionally, all cards will get one extra PlayStyle+ if their club wins a domestic cup. They will also gain +1 OVR (extra) if their club wins the domestic league at the end of the season.

The post FC 26 Fantasy FC Upgrades tracker appeared first on Destructoid.

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