SK Telecom and Microsoft partner to drive Korea’s gaming industry

By Elly Yates-Roberts on 05 September 2019

Korean telecommunications firm SK Telecom has partnered with Microsoft to drive Korea’s gaming industry. Together, the companies with use 5G and the cloud to enhance the customer experience.

With its super-fast and low latency 5G network, SK Telecom will support Microsoft’s game streaming technology – Project xCloud – to give users an immersive and seamless gaming experience.

SK Telecom will also be an exclusive operating partner of Project xCloud in Korea, helping Microsoft strengthen its position in the industry by leveraging LTE, the largest mobile subscriber base in Korea with over 1 million 5G subscribers, augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI).

“SK Telecom is pleased to announce this meaningful business cooperation with Microsoft,” said Ryu Young-sang, vice president of SK Telecom. “We expect to take customers’ mobile gaming experience to the next level by combining SK Telecom’s 5G competitiveness and Microsoft’s strength in cloud and gaming.”

The two companies plan to find out more about game streaming in Korea to ensure they are delivering the best experience. As such, they will start public preview for Project xCloud in Korea in October 2019 for selected SK Telecom’s 5G/LTE subscribers.

The partnership comes after signing a memorandum of understanding back in May to strengthen cooperation in 5G, AI and cloud computing.

“Microsoft’s approach to game streaming combines nearly 40 years of gaming experience with investments and resources from Azure, Microsoft Research, and other business groups across the company, allowing us to reach gamers around the world,” said Phil Spencer, executive vice president of gaming at Microsoft. “Partnerships are critical to continuing that trajectory and moving the gaming industry forward, starting with the incredibly engaged gamers and game studios in South Korea.”