The Microsoft/Sony cloud-collaboration news reportedly caught PlayStation staff off guard

The news that Microsoft and Sony are collaborating on cloud-based gaming solutions was a surprise to many people - including staff at PlayStation.

Last week's news that the two companies were working to develop cloud technology for “gaming experiences and AI solutions” was fundamentally quite exciting, with the press release promising that "the two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services. In addition, the two companies will explore the use of current Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sony’s game and content-streaming services".

But a report from Bloomberg suggests that these decisions were made by Sony, and that many in the company's PlayStation department were unaware of this deal until it was publicly announced.

The report states that Microsoft and Sony began to negotiate and discuss this deal in 2018, but that the senior management at Sony involved in these discussions did not include the PlayStation division in most discussions.

According to anonymous reports, "managers had to calm workers and assure them that plans for the company’s next-generation console weren’t affected".

Ultimately, the deal is likely to benefit both companies, and Sony's stock rose sharply shortly after the announcement. In the short term, though, it sounds as though key personnel within PlayStation did not see this coming.