Microsoft: Future is in the Cloud

Phil Harrison

Microsoft executive Phil Harrison has spoken about his vision for a 21st century games studio. He describes it as "a studio that would not create retail products. A studio that would only create for the cloud, for the network, and for a multitude of devices.”

And that studio already exists. It's been set up in London over the last six months by Microsoft, and today that studio was finally given a name. It's called Lift and will be headed by former Rare employee (and Diddy Kong Racing designer) Lee Schuneman. The studio will for the time being operate out of Microsoft's Soho office, with a view to expanding in the near future.

"It's an incredible line-up of talent we are building," says Schuneman. "Joining me on this new and exciting talent is some of the best talent in the world from console, web 2.0, social, and mobile."

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“What I would encourage you to think is that the disc is the start of a five-year relationship with the gamer," says Harrison.

Schuneman said that Lift is here to "deliver entertainment as a service. Where, when, and how you want it. We go beyond the box. Great games and experiences on tablets, mobiles and TVs. Powered by Microsoft and delivered through our cloud services. Made in London: an exciting, diverse city, full of energy, full of opportunities."

Schuneman echoed Harrison in opining that the traditional game release model, with massive up-front design and development costs, is changing. It's not yet an anachronism, but things are changing.

While major titles aren't going to disappear – there will always be a place for giants like Halo, of course – Lift and other Microsoft Studios will be adopting what Schuneman calls a "more nimble, streamlined development cycle."

Microsoft isn't forgetting about retail, Harrison was quick to add, but is trying to change the way we think about retail games. Usually we buy a game and 90% of the experience is on that disc. “What I would encourage you to think is that the disc is the start of a five-year relationship with the gamer," says Harrison. "We will try to refine and extend the product over many years. It is not mutually exclusive. We don’t have to stop doing disc products to be cloud-centric.

"The shift is from packaged goods to connected products," Harrison believes. "We will continue to support retail with our products for sure. But we are going to keep creating features that are enhanced and improved by the network."

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com