Microsoft announced at the Games Developer Conference this morning that its [email protected] program is now open to all game developers. The new program previously launched in closed beta last year, and it aims to help small developers embrace the same cloud services used by the most popular games on the market.

“With [email protected], we created a program to help encourage independent developers to start using cloud services early in their development cycle. We strongly believe that the efficiencies gained from using cloud services have a force multiplier effect the earlier you start using them in development,” explained Nick Ferguson, [email protected] Program Director.

Game developers can apply to the [email protected] program on this page. Accepted candidates will enjoy the following benefits:

• Up to $5,000 in Azure credits.
• Free access to Azure Playfab, Microsoft’s comprehensive back-end solution for live games.
• Free access to the [email protected] Education Portal
• 24/7 support from Azure experts

“Our goal is to build the best destination for any developer looking to get the most out of cloud tech,” Ferguson said today. In addition to the [email protected] program, Microsoft also announced today the launch of the new Azure Game Development Virtual Machine, which will allow game developers to create and test their games within a production-ready and cloud-based environment.

Tagged with Gaming, [email protected], PlayFab