The new partnership between Microsoft and Sony will focus on cloud streaming. TOKYO â May 19, 2020 – Sony Semiconductor Solutions (Sony) and Microsoft Corp. (Microsoft) today announced that they are partnering to develop solutions that make AI-powered smart cameras and video analytics more accessible and deliverable to their joint customers. In a conference call on Tuesday (transcribed by VGC), Sony executive vice president Toru Katsumoto said he expected Sony to develop “a very strong partnership” with Microsoft “in the medium and long term.” Another piece of the cloud game puzzle is Nintendo. Rumors suggest that Microsoft and Nintendo have entered into a closer relationship in recent months. We`ve seen this unfold with Cuphead, which arrived on the Switch with Xbox Live support, and Microsoft`s ongoing work with Nintendo to promote cross-play games. Nintendo won`t want to miss any part of a cloud gaming future, and it will likely have to form some sort of partnership with Microsoft, Amazon, or Google to run future services. Like Sony, Nintendo has an extensive library of first-party titles, but little experience with online services and large-scale infrastructure. Xbox Cloud Gaming is Microsoft`s cloud gaming service that was first released in beta in November 2019 before launching in September 2020 as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Instead of Sony and Microsoft fighting, as they have done for decades, a partnership is emerging to get started with Google Stadia and the cloud streaming service amazon is preparing.
This doesn`t mean there will be a single cloud streaming service for PlayStation and Xbox games, but it could mean that the hardware on the underlying server will be identical in the future to make it easier for developers to create titles for both services. As part of the partnership, Microsoft and Sony will also work together to enable hands-on co-innovation with partners and enterprise customers in the areas of computer vision and video analytics as part of Microsoft`s AI & IoT Insider Labs program. Microsoft`s AI and IoT insider labs provide access and facilities to create, develop, prototype, and test customer solutions in collaboration with Microsoft experts and other solution providers such as Sony. The companies will work with selected customers at these co-innovation centers later this year. Sony CEO Yoshida said Tuesday that its own game streaming platform, PlayStation Now, had more than 2.2 million paying subscribers as of April 2020 and that the company would soon unveil a “compelling” series of PS5 games. “In the medium and long term, it will be a very strong partnership.” The tech giants have put aside their fierce rivalry to form a partnership in video game streaming. A release date for services or products based on the Sony-Microsoft partnership has not yet been announced. Microsoft and Sony last week unveiled a surprising partnership in which the companies will work together to develop future cloud solutions for game and content streaming services. While the two companies have spent more than 15 years battling for PlayStation and Xbox sales, Sony is now looking at Microsoft`s vast cloud experience to support its existing and future streaming services, and Microsoft is working with a rival to fend off much bigger gaming threats. AI-based image recognition could bring big advancements in a variety of technologies, from automated driving and industrial threat assessment to more controversial applications such as facial recognition and gait analysis. The partnership announcement did not mention how such technology could benefit gaming hardware, although superior AI-powered image recognition can easily be translated into the development of next-generation motion tracking hardware.
However, Microsoft has already been burned by motion analysis, and it`s unlikely that a new version of the Kinect is on its way. “As part of the letter of intent signed by the parties, the two companies will consider jointly developing future cloud solutions on Microsoft Azure to support their respective gaming and content streaming services,” Microsoft said in a blog post announcing the partnership two years ago. .