Over the past 24 hours, rumours have been circulating that Microsoft is considering buying PUBG Corp, Valve, or even EA, but while these are strictly rumours right now, Microsoft has purchased something already.
The company announced via their webpage that they've acquired PlayFab, a known provider of complete backend platform solutions for cloud-based technologies. In essence, they build cloud-orientated solutions, and have done so for mobile, PC, and console platforms.
The acquisition is meant to bolster Microsoft's efforts with their Azure initiative, which is the company's own cloud platform. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, noted the following in a shareholder's meeting:
"We're mobilising 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."
Together with the recent Game Pass announcement, it seems clear that Microsoft is pursuing a cloud-based, digital future for their games division. Do you think this is a good idea?