In a recently leaked interview CEO Bobby Kotick mentioned that he wants to close the gap between player and game with Neuralink.
Have you heard of Neuralink? Elon Musk's brain implant pet project has been making headlines on a regular basis ever since it was revealed, promising a kind of human-to-device interfacing previously only seen in sci-fi media like Cyberpunk 2077. Apparently the technology caught the interest of Activision-Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick as well, and if reports are to be believed, he is enamored with the concept.
According to a scoop by WindowsCentral, Kotick mentioned Neuralink by name in a recent all-hands meeting at Activision-Blizzard. He supposedly talked at length about the future of Activision-Blizzard-King and how the Microsoft acquisition would change their approach to gaming going forward. He also went into detail on how new technologies like Neuralink could change how we play games.
Neuralink: The Gaming Controller Of The Future?
"[...]I think you'll see things like Neuralink — you'll actually be able to interact with things on the screen, where there isn't a controller.", Kotick reportedly told his audience. He then went on to explain how Microsoft's research into AI and machine learning could help them achieve the kind of player-game-interfacing he had in mind.
Now, I am usually on board with experimental new technologies, but a literal brain implant is a touch too novel and intrusive even for me. Plus, with how Elon Musk has been handling the projects he's involved with lately, I'm not exactly confident that this particular brain implant would have my best interests in mind. I think I'll just stick to using a controller with my regular human hands for now, thank you very much.
Then again, I might be the outlier here. How do you feel about Neuralink? Could you imagine controlling a game like CoD: Modern Warfare III with your mind?