Albert Penello has come up on NeoGAF to confirm, among other things, that Microsoft is not charging developers to use Azure on their Xbox One games. This means devs get dedicated servers, cloud processing, and storage for save files, pro bono, if they want it.
Penello is reacting to comments on a NeoGAF thread regarding Microsoft’s recent post on Youtube as well as their official blog promoting the Xbox One. Microsoft continues to face skepticism for the console, as well as their promotional campaign for it. Basically, the blog post communicates how the system uses the power of the cloud.
Penello actually provided a detailed response, arguing that they talked about real features of the console and that it wasn’t just marketing spin. Among his clarifications, he insists their description of cloud rendering is based on what’s actually possible and not outrageous, benefits in leveraging the could, such as game saves, roaming profiles, and redownloads, as well as the SmartGlass features.
Penello takes pains to ensure there is no confusion on this point so I will reiterate it like he has. Games published on Xbox One can get dedicated servers from Microsoft, for online multiplayer, for free.
Like I mentioned, however, there is one caveat out of Microsoft’s hands, and that is that this is completely optional. Of course, developers may still opt to use their own servers for their Xbox One games, even if they are Xbox One exclusives. I think there are AAAs that would prefer to use their own servers, to retain control of their game experiences. Ultimately, of course, whatever servers devs use is irrelevant to us, as long as we can get good online multiplayer out of those games.
Check out the said promotional video below and decide for yourself if Team Xbox did a good enough job on it.
Source: NeoGAF
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