Microsoft has been pushing cloud gaming as one of the more important pillars of its gaming strategy, and given the success that Xbox has seen in the space of late, it’s not surprising that the company is looking to further cement its position. As reported by VGC, Microsoft has announced a new division for its Xbox Game Studios division, which will focus on cloud-native game development exclusively for Xbox.
The division is being led by Kim Swift, who was a designer at Valve on Portal and Left 4 Dead 2, and joined Microsoft as a senior director in the Xbox Cloud Gaming team last year. As Swift puts it, Xbox’s cloud division will “partner with world class game development teams to develop cloud-native games to bring unprecedented experiences to players that can only be achieved with cloud technology.”
What games this step leads to should be interesting to see. Reports have suggested that Hideo Kojima and his team at Kojima Productions are on the verge of entering into an agreement with Microsoft for the development of cloud-native Xbox-exclusive title. Allegedly, the game will be a new instalment in an existing Xbox IP. As it stands right now, neither Microsoft nor Kojima Productions have made any official announcements.