With a new generation of concrete right around the corner, Microsoft is placing a higher priority than traditional warfare. Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft gaming, recently announced the Protocol for publishing technology does not consider Sony and Nintendo as the company's main competitor going forward. Instead, Spencer sees the future of games being fought over cloud computing between companies like Google, Amazon, and of course, Microsoft.
"When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we respect them a lot, but we see Amazon and Google as the top competitors," Spencer said. "That's not disrespecting Nintendo and Tony, but traditional gaming companies are somehow in the process. I think they can try to create Azure, but we've invested tens of billions of dollars in cloud over the years."
The Azure Spencer you are referring to here is Microsoft's cloud service. In the context of high technology, thousands of companies are using Azure as part of their infrastructure and their cloud products. However, in the gaming space, Azure is the backbone of the Xbox & # 39; s XCloud feature. Project xCloud allows players to stream Xbox games directly from the cloud to mobile phones or tablets. Spencer looks to see this as the key to the company's future, rather than the direct console competition that has taken place in previous generations.
“I don't want to be in a war of formats with these guys while Amazon and Google focus on how to get gaming to 7 billion people worldwide. In the end, that's the goal, ”said Spencer.
According to the Protocol, Spencer mentioned that Microsoft "is committed to partnering with Nintendo and Sony in programs such as allowing gamers in multinational systems to play and compete."
As for the competition Spencer mentions, Google and Amazon, both technology companies have the largest computer cloud structure available, and are in various stages of rolling out the game portions of those services.
At Google, its Stadia platform was opened on November 19, 2019 and allows players to stream games to their computers, as well as select Android phones. Amazon's cloud-based cloud service remains largely private. There have been rumors the company is working on it something to do with playing clouds, again rumors that it could start sometime this year, but nothing official yet.
In the meantime, the Microsoft service is still previewed and is only available on Android devices, with PC support coming out sometime this year. In the future, Project xCloud is likely to be available on a variety of devices, especially when Spencer puts his goal of getting games into the hands of seven billion people.
