Microsoft has acquired PlayFab, a cloud-based start-up that provides back-end game tools to launch and manage online games. Here are all of the details about Microsoft's latest acquisition.
Microsoft Acquires PlayFab Gaming Service For Azure Gaming Group
The online gaming platform has raised more than $12 million in funding from various investors, but that does not include the deal with Microsoft. As part of the deal, PlayFab will become part of Microsoft's Azure for gaming group, which aims to help developers focus on making high-quality games. The terms of the deal have not been revealed.
"The PlayFab platform is a natural complement to Azure for gaming. Azure, with locations in 42 regions worldwide, provides world-class server infrastructure, allowing creators to focus on building great games with best-available global reach," said Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft's corporate VP of gaming, in a blog post. "For gamers, this leads to a higher, faster degree of innovation and better experiences."
PlayFab Wants To Unlock Their Customers Creativity
Founded by CEO James Gwertzman and Matt Augustine, the idea behind the Seattle-based start-up was to help run live games and improve monetization.
"From the start, PlayFab has been driven by the desire to help our customers unlock their creativity," said PlayFab CEO James Gwertzman.
"We are humbled by the trust developers place in us when they depend on our services to run their games, and look forward to rewarding that trust with the entirely new level of features, resources, and support that this acquisition is going to enable. The entire team is as excited as I am to continue on this journey with Microsoft."
PlayFab Supports Some Of The Top Games In The Market
PlayFab online gaming platform currently supports many devices including mobile devices, Windows PC, and console games such as PS4 and Xbox One. To date, PlayFab powers some of the top games in the market including Emoji Blitz, Drive Ahead, Bad Piggies, Angry Birds Seasons, WWE Tap Mania, AdVenture Communist, and RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch.
PlayFab Powers More Than 1,000 Live Games
PlayFab is used by both indie and major entertainment companies such as Disney, NBC Universal, Wizards of the Coast, Nickelodeon, Bandai Namco, Rovio, and Capcom. The Seattle-based company powers more than 1,000 live games and has reached more than 700 million players.
"We're mobilizing to pursue our extensive opportunity in a 100-plus-billion gaming market," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "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."
