Phil Spencer: Amazon and Google are ‘the main competitors going forward’ in relation to Sony and Nintendo’s ability to create a cloud infrastructure

[thecaseace]

The amount of people on Era dying to be console warriors and purposefully ignoring the fact this article is about the cloud.

Phil is 100% right to say Sony and Nintendo don't have MS cloud capability.

If streaming hypothetically becomes the future of gaming it's a guarantee that Nintendo and Sony won't own infrastructure in that future because they dont have the existing contracts, infrastructure or buying power of Google l, Amazon and MS in that space. This is an indisputable fact.

The statement is as obvious as Sony saying: "we don't see Microsoft as a competitor in TV sales".

 

[StudioTan]

You don't choose your competitors. They choose you.

Click to shrink...

Your second sentence contradicts your first sentence lol

 

[K' Dash]

So many people not reading the article smh.

Click to shrink...

Par for the course around here.

 

[MykhellMikado]

The amount of people on Era dying to be console warriors and purposefully ignoring the fact this article is about the cloud.

Phil is 100% right to say Sony and Nintendo don't have MS cloud capability.

If streaming hypothetically becomes the future of gaming it's a guarantee that Nintendo and Sony won't own infrastructure in that future because they dont have the existing contracts, infrastructure or buying power of Google l, Amazon and MS in that space. This is an indisputable fact.

The statement is as obvious as Sony saying: "we don't see Microsoft as a competitor in TV sales".

Click to shrink...

the Backend infrastructure and the service itself at two different products and Phil wasn't clear as he specifically acts like Sony and Nintendo would need to have their own cloud infrastructure to compete.

It's more the equivalent of Sony saying "We don't see Microsoft as a competitor in tablets and laptops because they don't have manufacturing infrastructure" which doesnt make any sense when they already do have products in the same market and manufacturing partners.

 

[LordBlodgett]

I don't see how migration will be common. These public clouds all use ecosystem lock in to stop that.

Click to shrink...

As someone who has setup a ton of AWS servers for my company, and tested out both Google and Azure servers this statement is not true at all. I can get any flavor of server that I want on all of these services. Migration is not difficult at all.....

 

[Trup1aya]

the Backend infrastructure and the service itself at two different products and Phil wasn't clear as he specifically acts like Sony and Nintendo would need to have their own cloud infrastructure to compete.

It's more the equivalent of Sony saying "We don't see Microsoft as a competitor in tablets and laptops because they don't have manufacturing infrastructure" which doesnt make any sense when they already do have products in the same market and manufacturing partners.

Click to shrink...

What?

Microsoft sells a whole array of gaming related cloud products and services that only a cloud compute vendor would be able to provide. Of course Nintendo and Sony would need their own cloud infrastructure to compete within those spaces.

 

[Cyclonesweep]

]


I hear ya. We have people in this thread whose chief problem with this statement is that it is too dismissive of Sony's PS4 sales, as if that it is any way related to what Spencer is talking about

Click to shrink...

People have such a hate on for Microsoft and Xbox that they seem to take any opportunity to try and shit on that. It's exhausting.

 

[eathdemon]

I mean geforce now just killed stadia, so. thats not to say google cant fix it, but I am not sure how.

 

[ImaLawy3r]

As someone who has setup a ton of AWS servers for my company, and tested out both Google and Azure servers this statement is not true at all. I can get any flavor of server that I want on all of these services. Migration is not difficult at all.....

Click to shrink...

What does you think about games being developed with data centers in mind first versus local hardware? Do you see any potential benefits in the immediate future?

 

[Cipherr]

If you see someone as a main competitor, you don't support their business.

Click to shrink...

This is old and archaic thinking IMO. This isn't 1990. Its 2020, where Google Maps is on iPhones and Apple Music is on Android. If anything, we are starting to see more and more situations where especially in the form of platforms; competitors are absolutely putting themselves in reach by existing on as many platforms as they can.

 

[thecaseace]

the Backend infrastructure and the service itself at two different products and Phil wasn't clear as he specifically acts like Sony and Nintendo would need to have their own cloud infrastructure to compete.

It's more the equivalent of Sony saying "We don't see Microsoft as a competitor in tablets and laptops because they don't have manufacturing infrastructure" which doesnt make any sense when they already do have products in the same market and manufacturing partners.

Click to shrink...

Read the article.

The backend infrastructure is what Microsoft built up with the 'tens of billions of dollars' Phil mentions in it.

The service is called Azure (this is not about Gamepass) it services thousands of corporate clients worldwide and is a significant and growing part of Microsoft's business and a viable competitor to Amazon AWS.

You might not like the fact he discounts the ability of competitors in gaming to do the same but he's 100% right.

 

[ImaLawy3r]

the Backend infrastructure and the service itself at two different products and Phil wasn't clear as he specifically acts like Sony and Nintendo would need to have their own cloud infrastructure to compete.

It's more the equivalent of Sony saying "We don't see Microsoft as a competitor in tablets and laptops because they don't have manufacturing infrastructure" which doesnt make any sense when they already do have products in the same market and manufacturing partners.

Click to shrink...

Everyone can interpret what he's saying one way or the other. Another key word he used was the "future." Another assumption to be made here is a person is interpreting his own interpretation of what Sony's Business plan is - which might be that Sony doesn't have a plan for the cloud.

This can get very deep and lopsidedly incoherent if we keep trying to infer meaning to his broad statements.

 

[DvdGzz]

Nvidia with GEforce Now made the future painfully obvious to me. I thought Xcloud was neat on my phone but now I have Steam and my one of my faves Diablo 3 at my fingertips on a weak work computer. Sony needs to push for streaming.

 

[Dunlop]

From reading a lot of these comments, I'm not even sure people are reading the headline.

There's a constant stream of ignorance being generated in this thread. It's been quite a while since I've seen a thread like this one.

Click to shrink...

As soon as this popped up on my news feed, I came here for the pure spectacle that would ensue.

Honestly it's much tamer that I thought. I look forward to meeting our new cloud overlords

 

[Kthulhu]

As someone who has setup a ton of AWS servers for my company, and tested out both Google and Azure servers this statement is not true at all. I can get any flavor of server that I want on all of these services. Migration is not difficult at all.....

Click to shrink...

Then you know AWS is more than just servers. There are a multitude of third and first party integrations that do not always easily transfer over. As the big three compete more and more I think you will start to see even more lock in take place.

Yes you can technically still switch. No sane company would make themselves completely dependent. Many will have difficulty doing so as you have to retrain/hire staff. Not to mention the costs of moving all that data.

It's like moving from Apple Music to Spotify or vice versa. Sure you can do it and there are third party tools that help, but it's not always the easiest process.

 

[Cyclonesweep]

The amount of people on Era dying to be console warriors and purposefully ignoring the fact this article is about the cloud.

Phil is 100% right to say Sony and Nintendo don't have MS cloud capability.

If streaming hypothetically becomes the future of gaming it's a guarantee that Nintendo and Sony won't own infrastructure in that future because they dont have the existing contracts, infrastructure or buying power of Google l, Amazon and MS in that space. This is an indisputable fact.

The statement is as obvious as Sony saying: "we don't see Microsoft as a competitor in TV sales".

Click to shrink...

It's clear they see 2 sides of the coin.

Amazon and Google as streaming competitors.

Sony and Nintendo as gaming competitors.

If Azure stays on top and Sony's future streaming game service takes off, Microsoft is still winning, even if their game streaming is less popular. Which is why they don't see them as a competitor in that market.

 

[IIFloodyII]

Nvidia with GEforce Now made the future painfully obvious to me. I thought Xcloud was neat on my phone but now I have Steam and my one of my faves Diablo 3 at my fingertips on a weak work computer. Sony needs to push for streaming.

Click to shrink...

They already do streaming. To mobile devices up to PCs even.

 

[MykhellMikado]

Read the article.

The backend infrastructure is what Microsoft built up with the 'tens of billions of dollars' Phil mentions in it.

The service is called Azure (this is not about Gamepass) it services thousands of corporate clients worldwide and is a significant and growing part of Microsoft's business and a viable competitor to Amazon AWS.

You might not like the fact he discounts the ability of competitors in gaming to do the same but he's 100% right.

Click to shrink...

yikes..I literally use Azure every day I'm very familiar with it. Having Azure does NOT translate into an instant gaming cloud. I've been debating for at least the last year since it was announced on various forums. Cloud GPU is expensive no matter what and who does it.
I never ever claimed Nintendo or Sony would do the same, what I am saying it's he's incenuating that in order to be successful in cloud gaming they would need their own infrastructure, which they don't.

 

[thecaseace]

From reading a lot of these comments, I'm not even sure people are reading the headline.

There's a constant stream of ignorance being generated in this thread. It's been quite a while since I've seen a thread like this one.

Click to shrink...

It's mind-blowing how desperate people are to make this about console wars when the article is about the cloud.

Not only is the article really short but the point Phil makes is backed up by the actions of one of the competitors mentioned in the article that chose to sign a pre agreement to partner with MS because they knew they couldn't do it themselves.

Of course MS doesn't see Sony or Nintendo as a threat in the cloud.

 

[MykhellMikado]

What?

Microsoft sells a whole array of gaming related cloud products and services that only a cloud compute vendor would be able to provide. Of course Nintendo and Sony would need their own cloud infrastructure to compete within those spaces.

Click to shrink...

They absolutely don't Sony has literally been doing for the past 5 years without their own infrastructure. It clearly works and they were able to make a viable product that they didn't kill for the last 5 years. That's the point and why his statement is incorrect. They don't need their own infrastructure to compete in cloud gaming services.

 

[LewieP]

This is old and archaic thinking IMO. This isn't 1990. Its 2020, where Google Maps is on iPhones and Apple Music is on Android. If anything, we are starting to see more and more situations where especially in the form of platforms; competitors are absolutely putting themselves in reach by existing on as many platforms as they can.

Click to shrink...

Tell that to MS who are not putting their games on Playstation. I guess they must be engaging in "archaic thinking" or maybe they are just fanboys.

 

[MykhellMikado]

Nvidia with GEforce Now made the future painfully obvious to me. I thought Xcloud was neat on my phone but now I have Steam and my one of my faves Diablo 3 at my fingertips on a weak work computer. Sony needs to push for streaming.

Click to shrink...

these kinds of comments drive me crazy!!

Sony has been streaming gaming over the internet since the PS3 and PSP, almost 15 years now. They have all games enabled for streaming on the PS4 since launch and have working full apps for both Android and iOS on top of having PSNow for the past 5 years.

It's blowing my mind to hear people say Sony needs to catch up on streaming when they are the only ones that have been doing it in mass scale for the past 15 years.

 

[DongBeetle]

Highly disrespectful but it fits with this marketing narrative pushed through various media publications where they act like PS Now doesn't exist or lacks features it clearly has.


The logical thing is for Sony to go with whoever offers them the best deal.

Click to shrink...

Lmao disrespectful against who? A multimillion dollar corporation?

 

[ImaLawy3r]

Tell that to MS who are not putting their games on Playstation. I guess they must be engaging in "archaic thinking" or maybe they are just fanboys.

Click to shrink...

wut.
I'll humor this statement a little. What if MS is trying to but it's Sony saying no??? Lol.

This thread is ridiculous.

 

[MykhellMikado]

Everyone can interpret what he's saying one way or the other. Another key word he used was the "future." Another assumption to be made here is a person is interpreting his own interpretation of what Sony's Business plan is - which might be that Sony doesn't have a plan for the cloud.

This can get very deep and lopsidedly incoherent if we keep trying to infer meaning to his broad statements.

Click to shrink...

this is true but it's difficult to really parse from the article. The way it's worded it's made to sound as if he is counting them out of game steaming competition as a whole because they have no infrastructure, rather than not including them in the competitors for the actual infrastructure itself. I think it's common knowledge that Sony and Nintendo wouldn't be interested in their own infrastructure so that's why Phil saying that isn't making sense to me.

 

[rusty chrome]

I honestly don't believe that he truly feels that way, because it's a really weird point of view to have for as long as Xbox is a thing. If you're in the console business, you are going to be competing with PlayStation and Nintendo whether you like it or not. I find it shocking that Phil, of all people, doesn't know this. Perhaps the reason he doesn't see it is because Microsoft is planning to move away from their console business in the future and focus more on making Game Pass available on more platforms, which would maximize their profits? If they're not competing, why aren't their games on PlayStation? I doubt they've actually tried since I think they would have said something by now.

Phil doesn't seem like a bad guy but I really don't think he's the guy to "save Xbox" if he truly feels that Xbox isn't even competing with PlayStation and Nintendo. It is a very strange thing to say.

 

[Deleted member 15973]

Xbox doesn't make Azure or cloud infrastructure, Microsoft's cloud division does. I'm guessing he's talking about Microsoft's competitors are Xbox competitors.

 

[LewieP]

wut.
I'll humor this statement a little. What if MS is trying to but it's Sony saying no??? Lol.

This thread is ridiculous.

Click to shrink...

What if MS wanted to put their games on Playstation but then a flock of seagulls got in the way?

Meaningless hypotheticals are fun.

 

[ShaiKhulud]

It's true that you own the majority of gas stations. It doesn't mean that you can, you know, somehow produce better cars or even fuel pumps. Or pumps and cars at all.

Another anology. Sony is by far the biggest mobile sensors supplier in the world. In fact their sensors are so good, Sony can't keep up with demand, even with new billion dollar factories down the road. Despite that, Xperia cameras are still crap because it's not only about raw production, output or even resources.

Same logic perfectly applies to Azure, Xbox and gaming in general. Microsoft is huge in cloud? No doubt. Will Xbox magically have an edge over Sony or Nintendo because of this? Eh, I'm not sure. Depite owning more servers from day 1, Xbox is still way behind Sony in MAUs and services in general (PS Now is out for years while Xcloud is only in modest beta). Man, even MS' own SharePlay only arrived just recently, while it was almost a launch feature on PS4.

So yeah, MS owns the gasoline. But to be honest, big MS would rather fill the tanks of a 100+ mil. Sony' or Nintendo' userbase, and not bend them over because of the struggling Xbox. And that would be 100% right thing to do. Just business.

 

[Andromeda]

Phil said once the Pro was not competing against the XBX, it was competing against the XB1s because Pro was not a true 4K console.

Xbox’s Phil Spencer: PS4 Pro is an Xbox One S competitor, not a true 4K console

The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.

www.theverge.com

Having a cloud is not enough to gain marketshare. Anybody with money can rent and use some cloud service.

Amazon, Google ? If I was MS I would be more worried about Nvidia because their Xcloud service most important competitor is going to be Nvidia Geforce now, not Stadia.

As it's Spencer talking so I assume he is (should be) talking about gaming services and not datacenters for companies.

 

[ImaLawy3r]

Meaningless hypotheticals are fun.

Click to shrink...

Right.

Tell that to MS who are not putting their games on Playstation. I guess they must be engaging in "archaic thinking" or maybe they are just fanboys.

Click to shrink...

So are false and loaded premises. Sheesh. This thread. You really think that the reason why MS games aren't on PlayStation is simply because MS doesn't want it there? Don't you think there might be more to that??? LOL

 

[LewieP]

Right.

So are false premises. Sheesh. This thread.

Click to shrink...

Maybe I missed Halo and Forza releasing for PS4, otherwise that's not a false premise, it's a hard fact.

 

[ImaLawy3r]

Maybe I missed Halo and Forza releasing for PS4, otherwise that's not a false premise, it's a hard fact.

Click to shrink...

It's a fact sure. But your reasoning as to why is completely and utterly false.

 

[LewieP]

It's a fact sure. But your reasoning as to why is completely and utterly false.

Click to shrink...

It's because they are competing with Sony in the console business. They keep most of their games exclusive to their console because they are in the business of selling those consoles. I don't know why people are pretending this is not true just because of this statement.

 

[Trup1aya]

They absolutely don't Sony has literally been doing for the past 5 years without their own infrastructure. It clearly works and they were able to make a viable product that they didn't kill for the last 5 years. That's the point and why his statement is incorrect. They don't need their own infrastructure to compete in cloud gaming services.

Click to shrink...

Are you even reading what anyone is saying?

Microsoft sells a wide variety of gaming related products and services that only a cloud compute vendor can provide. Streaming is just one of many cloud gaming products microsoft offers.

Come holler at me when Sony starts selling platfrom agnostic products that compete with MS' gaming centric cloud based Developer Tools, Backend Services, Analytics and Insights and Growth Platforms offered through Azure.

 

[Deleted member 45614]

It's an interesting comment but if he's worried about Cloud Companies doing gaming I'd worry a hell of a lot more about Tencent which already has it's hooks in a bunch of gaming companies rather than Amazon and Google that have barely dipped their toes into gaming.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

lmao sure phil

google will drop stadia in a few months, such great competition

some weird things coming out of xbox leadership lately

unless he's talking specifically about cloud infrastructure, and that doesn't seem like it from the article itself

Click to shrink...

It is about cloud infrastructure.

In which case he's right. He's so right in fact that Sony will soon start using Microsoft's cloud infrastructure themselves. So yeah, in the cloud space, Google and Amazon are their competition. Even then, Google is way behind both Amazon and Microsoft.

 

[TheGhost]

So I'm guessing Sony is no longer using Azure? That's not good for them when the streaming wars take center stage.

I get what he is saying, he is talking about the future when winners aren't determined by consoles sold but services provided. They are getting out ahead.

I don't see how Google and Amazon could be a problem, they don't have a Halo or a Forza

 

[superbright]

To me this statement has quite a lot of depth to it. Sony and Nintendo see streaming differently to Microsoft which is why Phil is saying he doesn't see them as competition. When you look at PS Now and the few Japanese streaming Switch games like RE:7 Sony and Nintendo don't seem to see streaming as their whole business but instead a pillar of it, where as Microsoft see streaming as a large part of if not the core of their future in gaming. Microsoft in recent months have supported the Xbox less in terms of direct exclusives and seem to care less about if you own the newest hardware or even their hardware but instead care more that you are in some way in the Microsoft ecosystem, playing their games, using their services or utilizing their technology. To me this signals Microsoft are more willing to cooperate with Nintendo and Sony and would look to provide them with software and hardware to bolster their streaming offerings alongside their own.

 

[MykhellMikado]

Phil said once the Pro was not competing against the XBX, it was competing against the XB1s because Pro was not a true 4K console.

Xbox’s Phil Spencer: PS4 Pro is an Xbox One S competitor, not a true 4K console

The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.

www.theverge.com

Having a cloud is not enough to gain marketshare. Anybody with money can rent and use some cloud service.

Amazon, Google ? If I was MS I would be more worried about Nvidia because their Xcloud service most important competitor is going to be Nvidia Geforce now, not Stadia.

As it's Spencer talking so I assume he is (should be) talking about gaming services and not datacenters for companies.

Click to shrink...

Ok so Phil just has a habit of downplaying known competitors. His statements now make sense.

anyway yes, I 100% agree, having the infrastructure isn't a guarantee of cloud gaming success. We can ask Google about that

 

[CliveLH]

Tell that to MS who are not putting their games on Playstation. I guess they must be engaging in "archaic thinking" or maybe they are just fanboys.

Click to shrink...

Minecraft Dungeons is planned for PS4 and Switch 🤔

 

[MykhellMikado]

So I'm guessing Sony is no longer using Azure? That's not good for them when the streaming wars take center stage.

I get what he is saying, he is talking about the future when winners aren't determined by consoles sold but services provided. They are getting out ahead.

I don't see how Google and Amazon could be a problem, they don't have a Halo or a Forza

Click to shrink...

Sony was never using Azure.

 

[Trup1aya]

Xbox doesn't make Azure or cloud infrastructure, Microsoft's cloud division does. I'm guessing he's talking about Microsoft's competitors are Xbox competitors.

Click to shrink...

Well he's vice president of Microsoft Gaming... so he's talking from a Microsoft perspective, not just an xbox perspective.

 

[LewieP]

Minecraft Dungeons is planned for PS4 and Switch 🤔

Click to shrink...

Yeah Minecraft is the exception, and it's more of a legacy thing. I am thinking Halo and Forza etc.

 

[superbright]

Yeah Minecraft is the exception, and it's more of a legacy thing. I am thinking Halo and Forza etc.

Click to shrink...

They also allowed Ori and Cuphead on Switch

 

[Trup1aya]

Sony was never using Azure.

Click to shrink...

Sony announced last year that they were switching to azure.

 

[LewieP]

They also allowed Ori and Cuphead on Switch

Click to shrink...

Yes they did. Did you read the part of my post where I said I was thinking of Halo and Forza etc.

Why do you think Ori and Cuphead etc aren't on Playstation? I think the most likely explanation is that Microsoft don't want to release their games on their most direct competitor.

 

[superbright]

Sony was never using Azure.

Click to shrink...

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-and-sony-make-nice-announce-partnership-/1100-6466963/

 

[The Living Tribunal]

They also allowed Ori and Cuphead on Switch

Click to shrink...

 

[DoradoWinston]

Everyone who reads the article:

"Yea he ain't wrong"

Everyone that reads the title and thinks they know exactly what he is talking about:

"That's only if you forget about PSNOW"
" Yeah right that's just so he can tell his boss they best Stadia"