Microsoft and Sega are joining forces on a “strategic alliance.” According to a new press release from Sega, the two companies are teaming up to explore joint ventures focused on a new generation of gaming. However, Microsoft has not acquired Sega, as it did with Bethesda.
In the release, Sega president and Chief Operating Officer Yukio Sugino describes the effort as “(a) strategic alliance that explores ways for Sega to produce large-scale, global games in a next-generation development environment built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.” This means SEGA is working with Microsoft to venture into larger titles utilizing Microsoft’s cloud, potentially indicating a giant project on the way from both companies.
Sugino also mentions a new initiative for developing new and innovative titles that it has dubbed “Super Game.” This initiative focuses on games with themes of global, online, community, and IP utilization. According to Sugino, SEGA and Microsoft are looking to further evolve gaming areas like network infrastructure and communication with a next-gen platform.
Sarah Bond, Microsoft’s corporate vice presdent, also commented on the new partnership in the press release. She said that part of Microsoft’s role in this new partnership is to advance its game development, with an aim of having its titles enjoyed by fans around the world. Bond also said that Microsoft aims “to build an alliance that utilizes both SEGA’s powerful game-development capabilities and Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology and development environment.”
Based on the press release, it seems that Microsoft and Sega could have something big in store that may be the next major innovation in the new gaming generation. We’ll just have to wait and see just what that is.
