Microsoft and Sony shocked the gaming world earlier this month when they announced a collaboration between the two mega companies to make gaming even better. Unfortuntunately, a follow up to the report was much less positive, citing that many PlayStation employees were “blindsided” and needed to be “calmed down” by upper management. Now PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan is clarifying a few things regarding the newly revealed partnership.
Ryan clarified during the recent Sony’s Investor Relations Day event that the collaboration deal, though announced, has not been given “official” status at this time. The current state, at this time, is that both Microsoft and Sony have signed a “broad memorandum of understanding” when looking at future projects together, which has unlimited potential as to what in particular that could affect. Ryan also added that there’s not set-in-stone contract, simply a broadened partnership when tackling the next generation, which is great news for what it means between the divisive consoles and what the differing platforms have to offer.
As far as the initial announcement:
“Sony is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. We collaborate closely with a multitude of content creators that capture the imagination of people around the world, and through our cutting-edge technology, we provide the tools to bring their dreams and vision to reality,” Sony President Kenichiro Yoshida said when the announcement went live.
He added, “For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course, the two companies have also been competing in some areas. I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content.”
Using Microsoft’s Azure datacenters to support Sony’s online services, the two companies are also looking at combining their forces for all new technology and AI progression. “The parties will explore incorporation of Microsoft’s advanced AI platform and tools in Sony consumer products, to provide highly intuitive and user-friendly AI experiences.”
“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation. Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added.
We’ll be learning more about what fruits this partnership will bring at a later time, though for now we know that it’s not limited to any one thing.
