Yesterday, Microsoft and Sony put their gaming differences aside and announced an unusual partnership.
Together, the former rivals claimed they would tackle the future of gaming and entertainment. It begins with developing cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure that’ll not only support gaming, but content streaming too.
In a statement to the Press, Microsoft said:
“The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services.”
The statement is a big deal for two reasons.
In spite of the reluctance of the competing companies to enable cross-play in the past, the new agreement raises that possibility again. At some point, the companies may allow users to play and share the same game across their different consoles.
While the partnership is beneficial for both parties involved, Google and Amazon seem to be the losers here.
On Google’s side, the company appears to have lost the opportunity to host Sony’s cloud services. For Microsoft’s main cloud rival, Amazon, the story is the same.
According to Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella:Â
“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation,”
How Microsoft and Sony Can Benefit From their Partnership
The partnership also allows both companies to benefit from each other’s technology. For example, Sony can get Microsoft’s help with areas that it has struggled with in the past.
PlayStation users have reported slow download speed, an issue that has never plagued Xbox owners. Rather than try to solve this technical issue, Sony can use Azure data centers, and eventually switch over to Microsoft’s cloud solutions.
Also, the PlayStation company can also take advantage of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence services to create a better user interface for its products.
“Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers,” said Nadella.
Now you’re wondering; what’s Microsoft getting from this deal?
Since future PlayStations would be depending on Microsoft’s cloud services, that’s one more major customer to an already profitable business. Also, Sony would grant Microsoft access to its image sensors, which could be used to create “new intelligent image sensor solutions.”
At the moment, the company is working on improving the functionalities of the sensors for enterprise customers.
A better Kinect-style system is also not out of the question.
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