Tech giant, Microsoft has now announced new Azure-based cloud tools at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. In collaboration with the likes of Unreal Engine, Perforce Helix Core, Parsec, Incredibuild, Blender, and HP’s remote desktop platform Teradici, Microsoft’s Azure-based cloud tools now offer a game development workstation in the cloud that can be set up in minutes by the game developers. The new VM is now in public preview.
Game Developers Can Built Customized Games Using the New Azure-based Cloud Tools
Furthermore, game studios can get commenced with the default workstation built and then use this as a base image and customize it as game developers become more experienced with Azure-based cloud tools. The company also expects to build upon this first iteration and add new tooling over time, as well as more in-depth integrations with its partner network.
“At Microsoft, we are focused on strengthening our commitment to making Azure the cloud of choice for game developers so that they can take advantage of the benefits of the cloud,” Ben Humphrey, principal software engineer, Microsoft Azure, notes in the announcement. At the core of the development workflow here is the Perforce Helix Core version control system and Azure DevOps as the default CI/CD solution.
Teams Can Work on Developing Games from a Centralized Server
Microsoft claims that Azure-based cloud tools will make life easier for distributed game development teams. It not only eliminates the requirement for local specialty hardware but further enables teams to work from a centralized server. In addition to the new virtual machine, Microsoft also used its GDC announcements to launch new features for its platform-agnostic Azure PlayFab service, including new real-time notifications and a new PlayFab Lobby Service to manage multiplayer sessions.
Read more: Microsoft to Acquire Gaming Giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion All-Cash Deal
Source: TechCrunch
