Microsoft’s GameCore platform

Community General Discussion
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To understand what is going on with WoW’s migration to Xbox and its effect on Addons is to understand the Microsoft’s GameCore platform. I suggest you ask Gemini or ChatGPT or any other AI:

“What is the Microsoft’s GameCore platform”

It’s a bit technical, but it’s good for the soul. :innocent:

PS: I’m not the one to ask technical questions about this.

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I asked about addons being used and oooooo is it spicy. Now it all makes perfect sense :joy: Man I love being right!!! :slightly_smiling_face:

Will Microsoft’s GameCore platform allow the use of addons? Let’s say Blizzard’s World of Warcraft for an example.

ChatGPT said:

Great question.

:white_check_mark: Short answer:

Yes, Microsoft’s GameCore platform can theoretically support addons (like those used in World of Warcraft), but whether addons are allowed and how they’re implemented depends heavily on the developer and platform policies—not just on GameCore itself.

Let’s unpack what this means using World of Warcraft and addons as an example.

:jigsaw: What Are Addons?

In World of Warcraft, addons are:

  • Lua scripts + XML files
  • Run in a sandboxed environment inside the game client
  • Allow players to customize the UI, track boss mechanics, show damage meters, etc.

They don’t run outside the game, and they don’t require executable permissions.

:brick: GameCore and Addon Support – Key Factors

:white_check_mark: 1. GameCore is flexible enough to support addons

GameCore, being a modern application model for Xbox and Windows, does not prevent a game from implementing an internal addon system like WoW’s. Since the logic of addons is sandboxed and interpreted by the game engine (e.g., Lua), GameCore doesn’t need to “know” about the addons—the game handles it.

So from a technical standpoint:

  • Yes, a GameCore-based game can support an internal addon system, as long as:
    • The game engine supports it (e.g., Lua interpreter)
    • File access permissions (especially on console) are handled securely

:no_entry_sign: 2. On Xbox consoles, addon support is restricted

  • Console environments (like Xbox Series X|S) are locked down.
  • File access and external scripts are highly restricted to prevent exploits or security risks.
  • Xbox games can only access specific directories (e.g., local sandboxed storage), and external file access or mods are typically not permitted unless explicitly enabled by Microsoft.

So, while a PC GameCore version might support user-installed addons (like WoW on Windows), the Xbox version would likely not, unless:

  • The game provides an in-game UI to manage addons
  • Addons are downloaded from an approved source (e.g., via Xbox Marketplace)

:lock: 3. Security and certification rules

  • Addons can introduce vulnerabilities.
  • Any game published through GameCore must pass Microsoft’s certification process, which may limit or require control over what addons can do, especially on consoles.

:brain: Example: What If Blizzard Ported WoW to GameCore?

If Blizzard built a GameCore version of World of Warcraft:

Platform Addon Support Notes

|Windows (PC)|✅ Very likely|Same or similar support to current WoW addons; users can manage files directly.|

|Xbox|🚫 Unlikely without changes|Xbox blocks arbitrary script/file access; Blizzard would need a custom addon UI or marketplace integration.|

They would likely:

  • Use GameCore to unify development across platforms.
  • Maintain full addon support on PC.
  • Possibly disable or restrict addons on Xbox, unless a curated system was introduced.

:end: Bottom Line

  • GameCore doesn’t block addons, but it also doesn’t guarantee they’ll work across all platforms, especially Xbox.
  • On PC: Yes, addons can work, just like in WoW.
  • On Xbox: Addons are technically possible only if the game provides a safe, approved way to load them, and Microsoft allows it.
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I think you got it!
These addon complaints against Blizzard are misdirected.

Microsoft has very strict Xbox rules. If PC and Xbox players are going to compete against each other on a level playing field, the only addons allowed would be those approved for Xbox. It would not be fair to have some addons on the PC that Xbox players could not use. Therefore, my guess is the PC development will utilize Microsoft’s GameCore platform which is a unified game development framework that sits at the heart of the modern Xbox and Windows gaming ecosystem. It’s part of the broader Game Development Kit (GDK), and its purpose is to standardize and simplify how games are built, tested, and run across Xbox consoles (Series X|S, One) and Windows 10/11 PCs.

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And you lost me.

I don’t care what the Next Most Likely Word Machine says, because nine times out of ten it’s pulling all it’s information out of it’s proverbial butt.

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for a couple of years, everyone was heaping praise on microsoft for how they were handing gaming. (this was during the activision/blizz buyout talks as well). but as someone old enough to remember all the anti-competitive stuff they did through the years, i was really hoping it would fall through. I knew their customer first attitude wouldnt last. it was just a marketing ploy to gain market share from sony (it failed though, lol.)

the activision merger with blizz was terrible for the game and blizz as a developer. the buyout from microsoft is another nail in the coffin (so to speak). Microsoft has been destroying games, franchises, and gaming studios all my adult life. we can only hope wow is large enough and strong enough to survive Microsoft’s bad decision-making.

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AI; no thank you, so many people are relying on this too hard

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I disagree…some players just hate when things are finally on a level playing field and they no longer have an advantage.

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At the current rate some people will need to start asking AI how to eat, drink or breathe.

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There are children, in middle school, asking it how to add 2+2 and what the answer is

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If children are our future, we are so screwed.

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yeah, we really are

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Kids and even adults need an education on AI. It has great use-cases: I’m using it to tutor myself through multi-variable calculus. But it also does other things poorly. It can’t interpret or analyze, just amalgamate knowledge from elsewhere, and if its source is unreliable, so will it be (read Asimov’s “The Machine That Won the War”) It can short-circuit your learning if you jump to answers without digesting the process behind them. Anything in-depth or subjective- news, politics, history, opinions- you’re going to have to be super-careful because you don’t know where Chat is drawing its conclusions from.
I’ve found it great for math, and nigh-useless for my writing. As it is here: I doubt Chat has better than surface knowledge gleaned from corporate pressers, podcasters, and reddit.

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No. I suggest you don’t do that and actually read articles.

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Do you know that when you do a Google search, under the covers, it using Gemini? Are you advocating that no one do Google searches.

Microsoft does the same thing with their search engine, uses Copilot which is a derivative of ChatGPT.

Gemini now does reasoning in complex queries.

Do you realize AI fighter pilots can now beat human top-gun fighters?

Do you realize how AI is being used in modern Drones which can avoid jamming and doesn’t require GPS for targeting??

Why do you think the U.S. is trying to prevent China from obtaining leading edge AI hardware?

Do you realize radiologists use AI to help diagnose breast cancer?

And on and on and on.

My question is what all this will look like in 10 years.

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AI is designed to agree with you.

There’s reasons why people go into psychosis believing and reassuring you are always right

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AI is a technological marvel that the human race is not equipped mentally or emotionally to handle appropriately. The only two potential inevitable outcomes are the dependence on it for mere survival, or it becoming so advanced as to overtake us entirely

Something about chaos theory and scientists whether they could and not if they should…

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I suggest never asking “AI” anything, you’re going to get an “answer” that is nothing more than glorified auto-complete made by “devs” with delusions of grandeur… based on a regurgitated slurry of data taken in via mass theft… and squeezed out through a filter of popularity and probability… motivated by massive grift and sucking up more electricity than many countries do each day…

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Some studies are showing that doctors who depend on “AI” tools often see their own diagnostic skills atrophy.

No. It’s not. “AI” is not capable of reasoning. It’s capable of giving the illusion of “reasoning” at first glance, and the grifters who are pushing it really want to believe, and want us to believe, that it’s reasoning. It’s not.

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The ecological limit will put the kibosh on all this in a couple years anyway. It’s delusional to think otherwise

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