Microsoft is quietly putting in a large investment of 17.5 billion dollars in India. That isn’t just any amount but a fantastic sum of $17.5 billion. This is not only going to affect the tech world directly but also through the indirect impact the gaming world would experience and thus, this won’t be a silent move in any way. After all, king tech news that the whole social media was communicating and of course, the gamers’ part of the net responded with a supreme mix of excitement, misunderstanding, and memes that were in abundance.
In more simple terms, Microsoft, the company that is the face of the Xbox, Windows, and the currently controversial ‘Recall’ AI, which many regard as a giant step through the ‘less than tech’ in privacy, is going to take a huge strategic step by investing a huge amount into the Indian market, which is already one of the biggest and fastest-growing tech markets globally. This will be a huge deal for the gamers, as very often the gaming department of Microsoft follows the money trail. All this money flowing in—tech infrastructure, AI, and cloud services—will have better Xbox Cloud Gaming performance in that area, more game development, more games made for that region and just more Game Pass subscribers through a big push. This is a long-term play but hugely so.
Yet still, the news of the investment was like a mass of fire the gamers’ community. The buzz on the internet was not that prudent, as usual. A few gamers could envision a bright future, for instance, one person joked about the ‘Indian computing industry getting an upgrade’ while a large part of the responses were… not so cheerful. Moreover, many were strangely focusing their comments on Windows and scams.
‘Perfect. More scammers will be using Microsoft Teams,’ was one player’s sarcastic remark. Along the same lines, another stated, ‘Sounds like a scam again.’ Though the connection between a gigantic corporate investment and an increase in tech support scam calls is indeed a bit far-fetched, that’s gamer logic for you always looking for connections, even if they are miles apart. The dispute over Windows 11’s AI features, which some users consider intrusive, has certainly added fuel to the fire. ‘Great, Indian fraudsters now have access to all my data because the AI takes a snapshot of my screen every 5 seconds,’ expressed one scared gamer, quite skillfully mixing current events with typical internet anxieties.
There was also a faction of the community that simply could not tolerate Microsoft at any level. ‘I hate Microsoft so much,’ came the very blunt reply of one user. Another said, ‘Microsoft sucks,’ and attached a meme. It was as if the old console wars were being revived, but this time the fire was directed at the parent company. Some even considered it a bad financial decision and commented things like ‘way to lose money, microshaft,’ and ‘Microsoft is still digging its grave, huh?’ The sentiment is quite common: a chunk of gamers remain skeptical of the company and its moves, holding it under the dispenser of past grudges associated with Windows updates or Xbox policies.
And with Microsoft, one can hardly not think about Satya Nadella, the Indian-born CEO when talking about the topic. ‘Naturally it’s Satya Nadella, after all,’ was one user’s remark with the implication that the investment was either personal or country oriented. Another one sarcastically asked, ‘On an unrelated note, where does Microsoft’s CEO come from?’ This viewpoint not only gave an extra dimension to the debate but also complicated it since some considered it a warm-homecoming while others saw it as a punchline.
The wildest reactions, however, were simply off the charts. One gamer linked the situation to Halo brilliantly: ‘If Halo were still an Xbox-exclusive, the next Halo would be made of cow dung DLC.’ What am I saying? Oh yes, the huge imagination that was let loose in negativity was on another level. The things said about cleanliness, roads, and ‘izzat’—a term often ridiculed—showed how quickly online discourse could turn into the stereotype-ridden chatter that one finds hard to connect with the actual news.
Amidst all the noise, a few reasoned voices were heard. ‘I don’t understand why everyone is so upset about this. The fact is that companies are going to invest in markets where they see the potential for a return in the future,’ was one user’s defense. That’s a brilliant argument! Business goes where there is growth. For the average gamer this does not mean an overnight exclusive title tomorrow but rather a sign of where Microsoft sees its future. More developers, more cloud servers, more of everything in a crucial market.
How does all this translate to you, the one who is simply looking to play games? Not much in the short term, probably. Your Xbox is not going to be replaced with a tuk-tuk. Nevertheless, the PlayStation community often watches these moves closely.
