Microsoft Invests Huge Money In Iowa Data Center

When Microsoft announced the Xbox One, a big part of their focus was on cloud services. It would allow them to utilize such features as game processing, cloud saves, storing captured gameplay footage and more. They also revealed that they would be upgrading from 1,500 servers to 300,000; a bold move to make. And now, they’re putting their money where their mouth is.

Games Industry has reported that Microsoft will be investing about $700 million into a data center in Iowa, bringing the company’s total investment to over $1 billion in cloud service investments.

Microsoft has been working tirelessly to bring back positive PR to their company. Ever since they announced their initial policies on used games and DRM, a large consensus of consumers were angry. Even after reversing their stance on the matter, it’s been an uphill battle to regain the public’s trust.

It does set up a debate over Microsoft and Sony’s online services for the next gen consoles. While Microsoft’s Xbox Live does have the more expensive online pay model at $60/year, they’ve said that they will be providing dedicated servers for all multiplayer games. Sony’s PS+ service is cheaper at $50/year and will provide Gaikai streaming services starting in 2014, allowing you to stream previous generations’ content on the PS4. Additionally, you won’t have to pay to use multimedia services like Netflix. The drawback is that they won’t nearly have the same cloud service presence as Microsoft.

In the ever-raging console war, every benefit counts. Does having 300,000 dedicated cloud servers give Microsoft the online advantage? Or does Sony’s PS+ service provide enough savings and previous-gen capabilities to give them the edge? Let us know your thoughts!