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Microsoft has introduced Xbox Labs, a new initiative to explore emerging technologies and test ideas that could change how games are developed, accessed, and played. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made the announcement on October 13, 2026, with the aim of bringing together game makers, engineers, and scientists to develop experimental projects for players and developers.
Xbox Chief Technology Officer Scott Van Vliet will lead the group. According to Sharma, Xbox Labs will focus on turning emerging ideas into experiences people can try. It will measure success based on the engagement and response it receives.
The initiative follows recent experiments in which games were decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they weren't originally designed to support. Sharma highlighted Windows PC games translated to run on Apple Silicon and games ported to browsers using WebAssembly and WebGPU.
WebGPU is now approaching 90% global browser support, according to Sharma’s announcement. The experiments also include remixing major games into other titles' source code. These developments challenge traditional boundaries between software and hardware, as well as the distinction between playing games and creating them.
Xbox Labs will explore ways to make games easier to access, give older titles new life, and let more players become creators and co-creators. Sharma said these developments could benefit players even when they challenge existing business models.
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Xbox Labs will build its projects openly and learn from how people use them. The company also plans to share the tools it develops with game developers across the industry.
Sharma noted that coding became an early major workload for software agents because they can write, run, and test software. Games share many of these characteristics, making the gaming industry a potential area for further technological experimentation.
According to Sharma, people spend more than 72 billion hours a year playing Xbox games, which is nearly five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide.
She also noted that Xbox’s 25 years of game development experience could help its creators shape what emerging technologies make possible.
Xbox Labs will operate alongside the company’s existing commitments. Sharma said Xbox’s priorities remain unchanged, including its focus on the four Cs: Core, Content, Creation, and Connection. The company will continue making games, developing hardware, and responsibly managing its intellectual property and gaming communities.
The initiative is intended to explore new technology without abandoning work already underway. Xbox has not announced specific products or release dates for projects under Xbox Labs.
