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Microsoft's AI-powered Quake 2 demo met with backlash

by Danny Craig · 4/7/25, 2:17 PM
Microsoft's AI-powered Quake 2 demo met with backlash
Microsoft

Microsoft has released a new experiment that involves a demo "inspired" by id Software's classic FPS Quake II that is powered by generative AI. However, the demo has received widespread criticism for using AI to "replicate" an existing game.

The details:

  • The tech demo, which can be played in a web browser, makes use of Microsoft's game-focused generative AI model, Muse, which was unveiled in February. In a Q&A published alongside the experiment, Microsoft states that Muse "dynamically generates gameplay sequences inspired by the classic game Quake 2," with player inputs prompting the model to generate the next in-game action.

  • While the demo is impressive, especially given that it is available in a browser, it is far from reaching the quality of Quake II. Its visuals are extremely blurry, and controls and feedback from enemy hits are delayed to the point where it becomes unplayable at times. Also, since the context length is only 0.9 seconds of gameplay (nine frames at 10FPS), if a player turns away from an object, the AI will forget about it, resulting in a completely different view and level layout when the player looks back. However, Microsoft has made it clear that it is not intended to be a replacement for the original games and has been created to show off the capabilities of Muse.

  • Unsurprisingly, the experiment has sparked criticism from the gaming community, with The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest producer Geoff Keighley sharing a video of it in action on X. "We made a program that vaguely and inaccurately imagines what it might look like if you were playing Quake 2 right now," wrote streamer Lance McDonald. "It requires all the same equipment you could instead use to actually play quake 2, but requires a billion times more electricity."

  • Others have criticized Keighley for making the post in the first place, after the producer spoke about the industry's mass layoffs at The Game Awards 2024. As more companies use AI in game development, workers are becoming increasingly concerned about being replaced, with union members at Microsoft's own ZeniMax going so far as to sign an agreement regulating its use within the company. "This feels extremely disconnected from what you said just 4 months ago about the insane and devastating developer layoffs," YouTuber and illustrator Kala Elizabeth said.

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