Microsoft announces a new Xbox division that will publish cloud-native games – Games – News

Microsoft has announced a new division for Xbox Game Studios. This will focus on the deployment of “cloud-native games”. Kim Swift will lead the division. She previously worked at Valve and later joined Google Stadia.

Microsoft Says in a video for developers That the cloud division will collaborate with the studios to develop cloud-native games “that deliver experiences that are only possible using cloud technology.” These titles should then come exclusively to the Xbox ecosystem, writes VGC† The section will become part of Xbox Game Studios Publishing and Microsoft will support the developers involved in the development process, among other things.

Currently, Microsoft already offers cloud gaming with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. With Xbox Cloud Gaming, console games are played on servers and streamed to users’ consoles or computers.

Kim Swift, head of the new department, calls it “the drooping fruit of cloud content.” Swift previously worked on Valve on Portal, Left 4 Dead, and until May last year at Google Stadia cloud gaming service. It was announced last year Swift will join Xbox Game Studios and focus on cloud gaming.

Swift says that with cloud-native games, certain parts of the game can be processed in the cloud. so can the show length mathematical calculations It is made in the cloud. This will allow things like graphic rendering and lighting destructionnpc’s behavior, procedural generation Other aspects of the game are controlled in real time via the cloud. According to Swift, the cloud can also be used during the development process, for example with QA bots based on machine learning that should simplify game testing.

Kim Swift says that this will be a long-term project and that cloud gaming is still in its infancy at the moment. She said the company is ready to partner with developers who want to create cloud games. Microsoft isn’t the only company working on cloud-native games, by the way. Ubisoft He recently announced his platform Scalarwhich serves a similar purpose.