Microsoft, Sony join forces in partnership

Let’s break down this announcement. If you’ve been at all engrossed in gaming culture within the past decade, you undoubtedly know about the rivalry between Microsoft and Sony. It all really began during the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era, where both fan bases were fighting to prove that “their” console was the best. When everyone was gearing up for the releases of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, the arguments continued over which tech giant had the better console.

Well, on May 16, 2019, the console war finally ended (for now), with Microsoft and Sony announcing in a press release that the two companies are engaging in a “strategic partnership.” You can read the announcement on Microsoft’s website, but it’s a lot of corporate lingo; let’s break this down and determine what this partnership actually means.

Upon some research, I learned that this announcement comes in the form of a “memorandum of understanding,” which means no legal paperwork has been signed, so either or both companies could back out of this partnership at any time. It’s highly unlikely that this will fall through, as the partnership is beneficial for both parties. Basically, Sony and Microsoft are teaming up to work on cloud gaming solutions. We all know that cloud gaming is the future, whether we like it or not, and Sony and Microsoft have chosen to work together to tackle this huge project that is cloud gaming.

“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Our partnership brings the power of Azure (Microsoft’s cloud computing service) and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.”

This announcement is incredibly vague, and I’m sure this was purposely done. Nowhere in the announcement was “PlayStation” or “Xbox” named, which I found interesting. Many speculate that Sony and Microsoft have teamed up to combat Google’s cloud-based gaming service called Stadia. If both Sony and Microsoft want to remain leaders in the gaming industry, they would naturally want to work together to fight off a tech giant like Google. This partnership will benefit both Sony and Microsoft, and I think this will benefit gamers on both sides of the aisle. Admittedly, I am a PlayStation girl through and through, but I am on board with anything that helps the future of gaming as a whole.

I haven’t explored cloud gaming much as of yet, but I know it’s the future and I want it to be successful.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to wait until more information is released before we really know how this is going to impact the next generation of consoles. I don’t see how this could possibly be a bad thing, and I think this is a good sign for the next generation.