With the news of the Microsoft-Sony joint streaming project igniting a discussion across the gaming world, more information has come out that seems to indicate that PlayStation Staff were left out of the discussion altogether.
For years, Sony has been a pioneer within the gaming industry alongside Nintendo and became a fierce competitor of Microsoft from the moment the company announced its first gaming console. Many within the industry welcomed the newfound rivalry as they imagined Microsoft's seemingly endless budget would help to push Sony and other companies in the industry to bring even greater technologies to the market, which did happen. Sony was adamant that it intended to stand alone in its pursuits and refused to lend its expertise to any of its competitors, that is until this recent deal with Microsoft.
This recent news seems to indicate that Sony has reevaluated its position within the gaming industry and wants to ensure that the future of the company is a healthy one, regardless of how its other divisions feel. While there is no clear answer from the company themselves, it's fair to assume that Microsoft's recent cross platform advancements with the PC and Nintendo's success with its online subscription service has forced the company's hand. The fact that PlayStation employees were left out of the deal could indicate that the company intends to make deals like this without their gaming divisions consent from this point forward.
According to Bloomberg, the deal was first presented to Microsoft in the early days of 2018 by members of Sony's senior management in Tokyo, Japan. The company made the decision after the cloud-based service created by PlayStation staff failed to meet expectations, forcing the company to look elsewhere. Upon hearing the news, PlayStation Staff had to be reassured by management that the recent move would not in any way impact the production of the PS5. Additionally, after the news was announced, Sony stocks rose by 9.9 percent, its highest in over one and a half years.
Given the massive amount of investment that has been put into cloud computing by Microsoft, this move isn't all that surprising. While purists of either platform might hate this newfound partnership initially, it will pay dividends for both companies in the end and ensure they are on the forefront of new and emerging technologies in gaming. It's never a good thing to leave loyal employees out of the fold, but this shows that Sony is confident that the positives it gains from such a move will far outweigh the negatives.
While the move is certainly a fiscally responsible one given the recent pressure from companies like Google, it's hard to understand why the company wouldn't have included PlayStation staff. After all, it could cause seasoned employees to leave and could even cause divisions within the company that could take years to resolve.