Microsoft confirms Copilot AI is coming to Xbox, mere weeks after new CEO said gaming division would avoid ‘soulless slop’

Do you want Microsoft’s Copilot AI at your side at all times when playing video games? No? Too bad, because it’s happening on Xbox soon enough.

Microsoft has confirmed that its Gaming Copilot, whether anyone asked for it or not, is coming to Xbox consoles in 2026, according to a report by GamesRadar. And so soon, at any given time, gamers will be able to quickly ask the AI important and timely questions like “when does my Game Pass subscription expire” while mid-game.

“I’m excited to announce that later this year, we will bring Gaming Copilot to the current-generation consoles, and we will continue to bring it to more services that players are playing,” said Sonali Yadav, Xbox’s gaming AI partner group product manager, during a panel at GDC yesterday.

This doesn’t exactly line up with new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s sentiments from a few weeks ago after she took over for Phil Spencer, who retired in the midst of Xbox’s brand collapsing over the past few years. But no one’s really surprised by this latest development, either.

“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future [of gaming], we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” Sharma said in a letter to employees at the end of February. “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”

Sharma was presumably speaking about generative AI and “slop” that’s made by typing in prompts rather than art made by humans (generative AI tools are already being used in game development all over the industry). But Copilot is already confirmed to invade Series X|S consoles later this year, and potentially more, which is not exactly a big vote of confidence for those who are none too pleased about Sharma’s past in AI-shilling becoming a problem for the console.

Copilot, along with basically every other AI companion that’s flooded the market on every level (I especially detest Amazon’s Rufus AI that incessantly pops up whenever I try to buy groceries or something), is just going to be shoved into everything at every level, I guess. It’s already available for gaming on Windows 11, mobile, and the ROG Xbox Ally. Ignoring and disabling it is thankfully an option, so I’ll be excited to do that as soon as I can.

So, gamers, do you have any hope for this AI-infested society we are living in? Because I’m running pretty low on that resource.

The post Microsoft confirms Copilot AI is coming to Xbox, mere weeks after new CEO said gaming division would avoid ‘soulless slop’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Setting up an amazing squad in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is easier said than done, as you’ll need to look for monsties with the best possible stats.

This task is easier said than done. While you can always hatch the best of eggs, that doesn’t guarantee a perfect monstie. Instead, you’ll need to look for something called genes and master the concept.

How do genes work in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Every monstie has a dedicated set of Active and Passive skills. The number and types of skills of a monstie are determined by genes. If you refer to the image below, you’ll find a young Rathalos that’s available for all of us at the start of a journey.

Notice the bottom right corner, and you’ll find nine slots in a 3×3 grid. This grid is applicable for every monstie when they hatch. Some of the slots will be filled, and some will be empty. To get your perfect mostie, you’ll need to fill these empty slots. Having nine filled slots will give the mostie the best set of skills.

While not all their slots might be filled at the start, you can inherit additional genes from other creatures. To do so, you need to understand how Bingo and Rite of Channeling work.

How does Rite of Channeling and Bingo work in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Rite of Channeling allows you to switch the genes from one monstie to another. You can do so in different ways.

• Directly swap the genes from one monstie to another.
• Manually select which gene/genes you want to swap.
• Select the monsties and the genes you want to swap.

Once the swap is complete, you can continue to modify the genes of your selected monstie until you’ve filled all nine slots. However, randomly filling the slots is not the most optimal thing to do.

When you use Rite of Channeling, you should match up genes to get the maximum possible bonus. If you manage to do so, your monstie will have an extra 5% damage as a bonus for all Power attacks. To do so, you need to match three Power genes in a row. You can match them vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

You’ll get the bonus damage for a Bingo even if the associated element and attack type don’t match. If they do, however, then you can get multiple Bingos in a single row.

To build up your perfect monstie, Excursions are important as well.

How do Excursions work in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

You can send your monstie on an Excursion to make it gain different stat bonuses and Environment Skills. To do so, you’ll need Training Talisman, which can be purchased from the Melynx Emporium. They’re expensive, so you should ration them properly. Additionally, only one monstie can be sent on an Excursion at any time.

To gain Environmental Skills, you’ll need to pay attention to whether the monstie was present in that region. If you add a monstie to a habitat and then send it on an Excursion at the same place, it will be able to learn new skills based on their Environment Rank.

The ultimate aim is to have three S-rank Environment Skills active on your monstie at once. Three is the maximum number of Environment Skills any monstie can have. If you send them to a region they’re unfamiliar with, your monstie will only learn the stat bonuses.

Every Environment Skill has three ranks for each region: B, A, and S. Your monstie can access the Skill if their Ecosystem Rank matches the region’s grade. Additionally, you can also Awaken every Environment Skill if your monstie has the required genes.

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