Microsoft targets video game developers in challenge to Amazon’s cloud dominance

Microsoft Corp on Thursday said it is combining elements of its video gaming and Azure cloud computing businesses to court game developers, an action designed to use the strength of its Xbox gaming franchise to gain ground on cloud services leader Amazon.com.

Microsoft said it will start rolling out “Microsoft Game Stack,” a group of services that lets game developers do things like host multiplayer games and match players of similar skill levels. The services are designed to work for titles played on any device – including those with operating systems from Microsoft’s onetime rivals like Apple and Google.