When you think of gaming titans, Microsoft and Sony are two companies that immediately come to mind. They’ve battled it out for decades, competing for console sales and exclusive rights to games. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them go head-to-head for another couple of decades.
In an interesting turn of events, both companies are planning to partner up for the greater good of the gaming community. Why is that, though? They’ve been intense rivals for so long, so why would that just change on a dime?
The answer is simple: Cloud gaming. Both Microsoft and Sony see the future in this gaming segment. More and more companies are jumping in on the craze, such as Google with their Stadia service. Seeing competitors enter the fold, Sony and Microsoft want to combine forces to avoid getting left behind in this future space.
This partnership will be completely strategic. They have plans of building upon cloud solutions within Microsoft Azure. PlayStation already has a streaming service in PlayStation Now. However, it has a lot of imperfections. Most notably, the lag and connection interruptions have plagued a lot of gamers. It takes quite a strong internet connection to enjoy this streaming service for an extended period of time.
It appears Sony is looking to learn from Microsoft and utilize their resources to better their cloud gaming technology going forward. Microsoft is also on the cusp of unveiling its streaming service, xCloud. It’s poised to compete directly with Google Stadia. Partnering up with Sony gives Microsoft a great shot at delivering a fully functional streaming service.
It’s nice to see these long rivals team up to give gamers great experiences for the future. Both teams seem to be fully on board with this transition. This partnership was just announced, so it’s safe to assume it will be a little while before these plans officially go through.
Still, the possibilities are compelling to think about. No matter which console you prefer, this partnership is overall positive. It gives both companies the chance to learn more about cloud gaming and refine it for future services.
Hopefully, both companies take this time to get the internet connection issue down perfectly. Not everyone can afford high-speed internet, and that’s the challenge both Sony and Microsoft need to tackle head-on out of the gate. These companies have plenty of resources at their disposal, so it will be amazing to see what they’ll come up with.
