Hidden in level grinding is a reward for anyone who learns, strategizes, and solves problems themselves.
If you've ever played a game and thought, "This is great, but it needs more AI," then I've got some exciting news for you.
Gaming, like just about every tech niche, is slowly but surely colliding with AI, and Razer is the most recent player to roll the ball forward on that inevitable confluence.
This month, Razer announced its Wyvrn game development platform that encompasses AI across the brand's wide array of gaming software and hardware -- everything from RGB lighting to haptic chairs.
That move is an expected one in a lot of ways, but it's not necessarily Razer's embrace of AI that has me paying close attention; it's how Razer's embrace has increasingly become the norm.
The whole gaming industry is sliding toward AI, and I'm not just talking about upscaling or game development, which means your games are about to get a major dose of AI, whether you like it or not.
While Razer announced a lot of AI in its Wyvrn ecosystem, the biggest and most pivotal piece of that puzzle is its AI gaming coach, formerly known as Project Ava.
Razer is rebranding Project Ava as Razer AI Game Copilot, which is a bit of a mouthful but technically more official-sounding than the former moniker.
Just as Razer demonstrated at CES 2025, the AI Game Copilot is a multifaceted AI assistant that Razer envisions wearing a few different hats.
One of those hats is an esports coach that can study your game in real time and give you tailored advice and strategies to win. That means the AI is quite literally watching along with you and acting as a virtual caddy of sorts.
If esports isn't really your thing, Razer also envisions its AI coach in a more solo environment, giving its two cents while you fight bosses in games like Black Myth: Wukong. That coaching style might include instructing you on when your character should roll, your enemy's weak points, or giving you information on where key items are located.
Laptop Mag previewed Razer's AI Game Copilot last week and the AI coach looks similar to what was shown off at CES, which is to say it's an AI with a British accent that tells you how not to get your butt kicked in a boss fight.
Razer isn't the only company looking to get its feet wet in the AI game coach arena.
Microsoft just recently announced its own Copilot for gamers this month, which functions almost identically to Razer's offering with a bit more salesman in it.
In addition to giving in-game advice or recapping a gamer's progress, Microsoft also envisions Copilot giving personalized game recommendations based on your habits or helping you connect with friends online.
Xbox's Director of Xbox Editorial, Jeff Rubenstein says the sidekick is there to help.
"This AI-driven sidekick is designed to be your personalized gaming companion, helping you get to your favorite games faster, coaching you to improve your skills, and connecting you better with your friends and communities... Copilot for Gaming will be there when you need it but out of the way if you don't."
And if Copilot for gaming isn't enough for you, Nvidia also has presented its coach of sorts called G-Assist.
Similarly to both Razer and Microsoft's iterations, G-Assist is presented as an AI game guide that gamers can query for more information in lieu of Googling for help.
Nvidia's G-Assist would theoretically crunch game data like skill points to recommend character builds or even help you tweak your game settings for optimal performance.
If all of this is starting to sound similar, it's probably because you've been paying attention to AI writ large.
Ideas like AI agents are among the most exciting applications for companies like Amazon who seek to augment their own assistants (Alexa in this case) into something bigger, better, and more useful.
I think most people probably won't argue with voice assistants that can do more than set timers and turn your lights on and off, but when it comes to games, companies like Razer, Microsoft, and Nvidia might be treading on more sacred territory.
I've never been a fan of busy work or administrative lever-pulling, and if AI can swoop in and save me from the tedium of my day-to-day workflow or general computing, then I'm all for it. AI agents are a great idea.
With that said, there are some things that I don't want an AI agent for, and having fun is one of them. I've contended for some time now that the best AI is a boring one, and there's something about AI game coaches that feels like an encroachment into my sacred zone of leisure.
Sure, there is plenty of tedium in gaming (Death Stranding made an entire game out of it), but hidden in that grinding or "Game Over" is also a reward for anyone who learns, strategizes, and solves problems themselves.
I'm not saying I don't ever go to Google to tell me how to beat something or where to find an item (my Elden Ring search history is vast), but it's not my first mode of action when I'm stuck or even frustrated.
Maybe I'm just a masochist who likes to play on hard mode both literally and figuratively, but maybe there's also just something to toughing it out the way game designers intended.
Call me curmudgeonly, but I wonder -- technologically brilliant or not -- how AI coaches will be received by gamers broadly.
I might just be old and out of touch, and if that's the case, then points for Razer, Microsoft, and Nvidia. But if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on AI coaches being met with skepticism as opposed to open arms.
