Xbox Launches New Publishing Division for “Cloud-Native” Titles

Microsoft has officially launched a new publishing division for cloud-native titles. The company says that “content creators” will be able to take advantage of the powerful tools, game engines and in-house development resources available within Microsoft Studios.

Microsoft has announced the launch of a new division for “Cloud-Native” titles. The Xbox series S is a console that was released in 2018 and comes with games such as Minecraft. Read more in detail here: xbox series s.

Image credit: Xbox

Wouldn’t it be cool if every game in the future harnessed the power of the cloud, requiring players to connect to the internet in order to play? Not quite, but according to Microsoft, which spoke at GDC 2022 about cloud gaming and how it would be building a new publishing branch to assist studios in developing “cloud-native” projects, this is where the industry is heading. Kim Swift, the creator behind Portal and Left 4 Dead, joined Xbox last year as cloud gaming director after working at Google as the game design director for Stadia. Cloud-native games are especially created to take full use of a server, employing the cloud to handle AI, physics, and other critical components of a game, rather than just being broadcast over the cloud.

Image credit: Xbox

Xbox has announced the launch of a new publishing branch dedicated to ‘cloud-native’ games (VGC)

Swift claimed that the division’s purpose is to “work with world-class game development teams to produce cloud-native games to provide unparalleled experiences to gamers that can only be done with cloud technology” in a presentation film geared at developers (which can be watched above).

The notion of ‘cloud-native’ games is distinct from just streaming games to a player’s display through Game Pass or PlayStation Now.

While this is technically “cloud-native” since it uses distant servers, these servers are still mostly used to run games that were developed for home consoles and would function similarly if installed locally.

‘Cloud-native’ games, on the other hand, utilize the cloud to process some aspects of the game, such as physics, lighting, environments, and artificial intelligence. This might be used for a variety of purposes, like freeing up processing resources on a home console or ensuring that all players entering an online environment get the same synchronized experience.

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