We're announcing a new initiative, the Microsoft Game Stack, where we'll bring together Microsoft tools and services that will enable all game developers, whether they're an independent developer or a AAA studio, to achieve more.
There are 2 billion gamers in the world today, playing a variety of games on a variety of devices. The community places as much emphasis on video streaming, viewing and sharing as it does on gaming or competition. As game creators, you strive every day to engage your players, spark their imagination, and inspire them, no matter where they are or what device they're using. We're introducing the Microsoft Game Stack to help you do just that.
What is Microsoft Game Stack?
Game Stack brings together all of our game development platforms, tools and services, such as Azure, PlayFab, DirectX, Visual Studio, Xbox Live, App Center and Havok, into a robust ecosystem that any game developer can use. Game Stack's goal is to help you easily find the tools and services you need to create and manage your game.
The cloud plays a critical role in the Game Stack, and Azure fills this vital need. Azure provides fundamental parts such as compute and storage, as well as cloud-based machine learning and artificial intelligence services for notifications and mixed reality spatial references.
Companies currently working with Azure include Rare, Ubisoft, and Wizards of the Coast. They host servers for multiplayer games, store player data safely and securely, analyze game telemetry, protect their games from DDOS attacks, and train AI to create a more immersive gaming experience.
Although Azure is part of Game Stack, it is important to note that Game Stack is cloud, network, and device agnostic. We don't stop there.
What's new?
The next component of the Game Stack is PlayFab, a complete backend service for creating and operating games. A year ago, PlayFab and Microsoft merged. Today we're excited to announce that we're adding PlayFab to the Azure family. Together, Azure and PlayFab are a powerful combination: Azure provides reliability, global scale, and enterprise-grade security; PlayFab provides Game Stack with managed game development services, real-time analytics, and LiveOps capabilities.
According to PlayFab co-founder James Gwertzman, “Modern game creators are becoming less and less like movie directors. Long-term success requires player engagement in a continuous cycle of creation, experimentation, and exploitation. You can’t just roll your game and move on anymore.” PlayFab supports all major devices, from iOS and Android, to PC and Web, Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch; and all major game engines, including Unity and Unreal. PlayFab will also support all major cloud services in the future.
Today we are also pleased to announce five new PlayFab services.
In public preview access today:
- : Powerful matchmaking for multiplayer games, adapted from Xbox Live, but now available for all games and all devices.
In private preview access today ():
- PlayFab Party: Voice and chat services adapted from Xbox Party Chat, but now available for all games and devices. Party uses Azure Cognitive Services for real-time translation and transcription to make games accessible to more players.
- PlayFab Insights: Combines robust real-time game telemetry with game data from multiple other sources to measure your game's performance and generate actionable insights. Built on top of Azure Data Explorer, Game Insights will offer connectors to existing third-party data sources, including Xbox Live.
- PlayFab PubSub: Subscribe your game client to messages sent from PlayFab servers over a persistent connection with Azure SignalR support. This allows for scenarios such as real-time content updates, matchmaking notifications, and simple multiplayer gameplay.
- PlayFab User Generated Content: Engage your community by allowing players to create and securely share user-generated content with other players. This technology was originally developed to support the Minecraft marketplace.
Growing Xbox Live Community
Another important component of the Game Stack is Xbox Live. Over the past 16 years, Xbox Live has become one of the most vibrant and active gaming communities in the world. It is also a secure and inclusive network that has allowed the boundaries of gaming to be expanded, with players now connecting across devices.
We're thrilled that Xbox Live will be part of the Microsoft Game Stack, providing identity and community services. As part of Game Stack, Xbox Live will expand its cross-platform capabilities as we introduce a new SDK that brings this community to iOS and Android devices.
With Xbox Live, mobile app developers can connect with the most passionate and engaged gamers on the planet. Here are just some of the benefits for mobile developers:
- Trusted Game Identity: With the new Xbox Live SDK, developers can focus on creating great games and leverage Microsoft's Trusted Identity Network to support sign-in, privacy, online security, and sub-accounts.
- Frictionless Integration: New on-demand options and no Xbox Live certification give mobile app developers the flexibility to create and update their games. Developers simply use the services that best suit their needs.
- Vibrant Gaming Community: Join the growing Xbox Live community and connect gamers across multiple platforms. Find creative ways to implement achievement systems, Gamerscore and "hero" stats.
Other Game Stack Components
Other Game Stack components include Visual Studio, Mixer, DirectX, Azure App Center, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, and Havok. In the coming months, as we work to improve and expand the Game Stack, you'll see deeper connections between these services as we bring them together to work more effectively together.
As an example of how this integration is already happening, today we are linking PlayFab and the following Game Stack components together:
- App Center: Crash log data from App Center is now connected to PlayFab, allowing you to better understand and respond to issues in your game in real time by attributing individual crashes to isolated players.
- Visual StudioCode: With the new PlayFab plugin for Visual Studio Code, editing and updating Cloud Script just got a whole lot easier.
Create your world today and achieve more
Source: habr.com