Microsoft acquires gaming tool vendor PlayFab to boost Azure platform

Microsoft has acquired PlayFab, which helps game developers launch their titles online more quickly with simplified back-end services.

PlayFab runs backend services for 1,200 cloud-connected games with more than 700 million players, and now Microsoft will integrate PlayFab’s tools into its Azure cloud service.

“PlayFab’s tools are designed to be used by game developers across all platforms (mobile, PC and console),” said Kareem Choudhry, corporate vice president of gaming at Microsoft, in a blog post. “This acquisition extends the investments and work we’ve done on Microsoft Azure to provide a world-class cloud platform for the gaming industry.”

PlayFab offered game developers a platform to host and operate online games and the analytics tools to help understand and monetize users. The startup helped game developers cut down on the work needed to launch a title widely with infrastructure that could handle a global player base.

“We process more than 1.5 billion transactions a day, nearly 20,000 transactions a second. Our technology is used by some of the biggest entertainment companies, including Disney, NBC Universal, Wizards of the Coast, Nickelodeon, Bandai Namco, Rovio, and Capcom, as well as fast-growing indies like Fluffy Fairy, Nvizzio, and Hyper Hippo,” Gwertzman said in a blog post.

Seattle-based PlayFab was founded four years ago. One of PlayFab's advisors is Hadi Partovi, who formerly was Microsoft's group program manager for Internet Explorer. Partovi also cofounded Tellme Networks, which Microsoft later acquired, and ran the MSN portal.