The two gaming giants join forces to counter Google’s arrival in cloud gaming. But the collaboration could be broader
It took Google to convince Sony, and it took Microsoft to make everything less difficult. What are we talking about? The future collaboration, just announced, between Sony and Microsoft in the field of cloud gaming, in response to the newborn platform Stadia announced by Google with the ominous slogan “The future of gaming is not a console”.
Two historical competitors, then, join forces to fight together the latest arrival that, being Google, the last will be for very little. Let’s start from the base: Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, publishes on Twitter a photo in which he shakes hands with Kenichiro Yoshida, president of Sony. The accompanying short text reads, “We will bring the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences to customers.” Then, the link to Microsoft’s blog where the terms of this collaboration are described, but also the limits of this “Memorandum of Understanding” after which, it should be noted, the two companies will collaborate while remaining formally competitors in the same market.
Microsoft-Sony: the details of the alliance
The alliance between Microsoft and Sony marks the end of an era: the one during which Sony was officially and proudly against cloud gaming, that is, the use of video games through an online platform. And if Sony opens up to the cloud, that cloud can only be made in Microsoft: the Redmond-based company, in fact, focused much of its latest annual Build 2019 conference right on Azure services dedicated to the cloud.
In the joint press release, the two companies explain, “With the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties, the two companies will explore the joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective gaming and content streaming services. In addition, the two companies will explore the use of Microsoft Azure’s existing datacenter-based solutions for Sony’s content streaming and gaming services. By working together, the companies aim to deliver more advanced entertainment experiences for their customers worldwide. These efforts will also include creating better development platforms for the content creator community.”
Collaboration also for chips and AI
In addition to “cloud” there’s a second buzzword in this memo: “AI,” artificial intelligence. The two companies explain that “As part of the MOU, Sony and Microsoft will also explore collaboration in the areas of semiconductors and AI. For semiconductors, this includes the potential joint development of new smart image sensor solutions. […] In terms of artificial intelligence, the parties will explore the incorporation of Microsoft’s advanced AI platform and tools into Sony’s consumer products to provide an intuitive and user-friendly AI experience.”
AI Microsoft in the PlayStation 5?”
The memorandum does not include dates or mention specific products. So we don’t yet know if Sony will open up to the cloud as early as the next PlayStation 5 (due in November 2020) or with a later product. But since a collaboration of this caliber never comes out of nowhere, it is very likely that negotiations have been going on for quite a while and that the presentation of Google Stadia has only accelerated the signing of the memorandum. It is not to be excluded, therefore, that in the next PlayStation 5 there will be a pinch of AI from Microsoft.
In this regard, Yoshida remains vague: “PlayStation itself was born from the integration of creativity and technology. Our mission is to seamlessly evolve this platform to deliver the best and most immersive entertainment experiences, along with a cloud environment that ensures the best possible experience anytime, anywhere. […] In addition, I hope that in the areas of semiconductors and artificial intelligence, leveraging each company’s cutting-edge technology in a mutually complementary way will lead to the creation of new value for society.”