Microsoft Is Playing the Long Game
It’s estimated that two billion people will be playing video games by 2020, and Microsoft wants to reach all of them. And part of this plan is expanding their gaming business beyond consoles.
“When Phil was promoted to executive vice president, reporting to Satya [Nadella, Microsoft CEO], he was asked about how to grow gaming all across Microsoft,” said Kevin Gammill, General Manager of gaming cloud at Microsoft. “I will use Minecraft as an example. We have right now sold 144 million copies across PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and mobile devices. When looking to where we’re going, it’s really about how we grow our business above and beyond console.”
“We are not leaving the console business behind by any means,” he added. “We are continuing to invest there. The premium living room experience today is on Xbox One X, and we hope to continue that for years to come. But when you think about how we are going to broaden our business, we need to think beyond console to be successful.”
Microsoft recently revealed its new Cloud Gaming Division, which will include all of the company’s current cloud gaming products. And Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Vice President of Gaming, recently said the he believes games will eventually run on cloud.
Microsoft also assures that its tools and platforms will be compatible with nearly every gaming device, from consoles to smartphones. Clearly, they’re playing the long game.
“What you’re seeing here is the transition that Microsoft has been taking over a number of years,” said Gammill. “If you think about [Microsoft] Office, for example, it is available on not just our own operating system, but it is also on iOS. We are broadening our wings when it comes to what we want to touch. You’re seeing that company philosophy roll over into the game space.”