Microsoft has tasked a new gaming cloud division with developing a cloud gaming service to compete with Sony’s PlayStation Now and Nvidia’s Geforce Now, according to an interview with The Verge.
Cloud gaming service
The company behind Xbox has created a new gaming cloud division as it “prepares to launch its own cloud gaming services”, according to the report. The team is led by Kareem Choudhry, a 20-year veteran who has previously been involved in Xbox engineering.
- “Phil (Spencer) really wanted a dedicated team focused exclusively on the gaming cloud,“ said Choudhry, in an interview with The Verge. “Those were conversations that started happening last summer, and we really started creating the structure of the organization at the end of last year.”
The cloud gaming service will be run from Microsoft’s Azure servers and the basic idea is that the cloud gaming service will offer a library of games that will be accessible on a range of devices, not only Xbox – like Netflix but for games.
2 billion gamers
Microsoft is certainly not the first company to envision a cloud gaming service. Sony launched its PlayStation Now service in 2014 and Nvidia launched Geforce Now (née Nvidia Now) in 2015. Before that, we had Gaikai and Onlive, both of which were acquired by Sony.
- “We believe there is going to be 2 billion gamers in the world, and our goal is to reach every one of them,” said Choudhry. “And we also believe there’s room in the industry for a gaming subscription and that’s what we’re going to build.”
It is not clear exactly when this service will launch but Bloomberg reported last year that it will “probably” launch within three years.
- Source: The Verge, Bloomberg
