Microsoft announced today that they had acquired PlayFab, a company specializing in tools and services to launch and grow cloud-enabled games. Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Kareem Choudhry, wrote the following blog announcing the acquisition: The Acquisition of PlayFab
It’s abundantly clear that Microsoft is driving in the direction CEO Nadella stated last year, with Choudhry even choosing to quote Nadella himself in the blog:
“We’re mobilizing to pursue our extensive opportunity in a 100-plus-billion gaming market. This means broadening our approach to how we think about gaming end to end, about starting with games and how they’re creating and distributed, and how they’re played and viewed.”
CEO of PlayFab, James Gwertzman, wrote a piece about the acquisition as well which you can find here: Gwertzman Comments on Microsoft Acquisition
Our Take
After the rumors last week that Microsoft was abandoning cloud technology for gaming with Cloudgine having been acquired by Epic, it seems that Microsoft may have merely had other plans. Acquiring PlayFab is yet another indicator that they are not simply making empty promises about investment into the industry. Rather, we recognize the long-term investment that Microsoft is making towards gaming and as with all things that expand this art form we love, we applaud it.
