Welcome to ID@Azure
Accelerate your game development in the cloud with the ID@Azure program.
ID@Azure empowers independent studios and startup game developers to take full advantage of the cloud to build and grow their games. By joining the program you get free access to developer tools and support from industry experts.
ID@Azure empowers independent studios and startup game developers to take full advantage of the cloud to build and grow their games. By joining the program you get free access to developer tools and support from industry experts.
Develop Faster
Free services to help you validate the technology and start building sooner
- Up to $150,000 in free Azure credits*
- Free Azure PlayFab Standard Plan for up to 2 years
- Free multiplayer services including PlayFab Party, PlayFab Matchmaking and PlayFab Lobby (up to included limits)
- Free access to powerful development tools, including Microsoft 365, Visual Studio and GitHub
*Benefit via Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Curated educational resources for all levels of cloud experience
- Example solutions, architectures and use cases
- Case studies from other game developers
- Code samples from GitHub
- Self-paced training modules
Support along the Journey
Support and expertise direct from Microsoft's cloud + gaming experts
- 24/7 access to Azure Technical Support*
- Ticketed PlayFab support
- Exclusive Ask the Experts sessions from Microsoft team members
Why Cloud?
Microsoft created ID@Azure because we see the huge benefits that cloud brings to the games industry, and our goal is to extend those benefits to smaller studios and the independent developer community. The net result should be a significant gain in flexibility and scalability, reducing costs, speeding up development, and improving players’ experience.
Why Azure?
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to understand the challenges facing game creators today. With our first-party studios, we build, iterate, and test games every day on our global platform to make Azure better while also listening to the needs of our creator community to see what we can improve.
Inspired by ID@Xbox
ID@Azure was created using the same philosophy as ID@Xbox. Our focus is on how to empower and enable developers with aspirations to use cloud gaming services - regardless of the platforms you are developing for. We want you to be successful, because we know that working with cloud opens a lot of possibilities for the development of your game.
Interested in ID@Azure? Apply today.
Learn more about the ID@Azure program
Learn more about the ID@Azure program
Introduction to ID@Azure
For a more in-depth look at the ID@Azure program watch this introductory video featuring ID@Azure Program Director, Nick Ferguson.
Your journey in the cloud starts today
Read our December 2022 program updates to further explore the ID@Azure program specifics and benefits. Learn how using Azure will help you reduce risk and grow your games and audience more than you thought you could without the cloud.
Level up your development with Azure PlayFab
Azure PlayFab is a complete backend platform for building and managing cross platform online games. Learn more about the specific PlayFab benefits you will receive by joining the ID@Azure program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- ID@Azure is a new program designed to empower you to take full advantage of game services in the cloud to accelerate development and drive engagement of your titles. This is an opportunity to surround yourself with resources and support designed to help you implement game production in the cloud, multiplayer services, LiveOps, analytics, game economies, and much more.
- Anyone developing games, game services or game tools for commercial release is welcome to apply to ID@Azure. ID@Azure is platform, engine, and business model agnostic. ID@Azure is not targeted at students or hobbyists.
- ID@Azure benefits available to program members include:
- Up to $150,000 in Azure credits* Qualifying members receive a minimum of $1,000 in Azure credits, with the opportunity to receive up to $150,000 as you develop, grow and scale your game.
- Azure PlayFab Standard Plan ($99/month value)
- Extended service limits for PlayFab Party Networking & Voice (500M Party Connectivity Minutes; 25M Party Voice Minutes; 500TB Party Egress; Overage will be billed at a 30% discount from listed Party rates)
- Extended service limits for PlayFab Matchmaking & Lobby (1B Matchmaking API Calls, 2B Lobby API Calls, 1.2B Messages; Overage will be billed at a 30% discount from listed rates)
- Free access to powerful development tools* including Visual Studio Enterprise, GitHub Enterprise, Microsoft 365 and PowerBI Pro.
- Top-tier support resources including premium Azure Support, access to Office Hours calls and exclusive Expert Sessions.
- PlayFab ticketed support with responses within 1 business day. Use support tickets to report a bug, to understand how to use a particular PlayFab feature, or to request help with a technical program.
- Curated educational and support content including blogs, documentation, articles, training, and videos in the ID@Azure Education Portal.
- ID@Azure benefits available to program members include:
Product Group Feature/ Meter FREE LIMIT per month Party Connectivity 500M Minutes of compute Party Voice 25M Minutes of voice Party Egress (Zone 1) 500 Terabytes* Matchmaking & Lobby Matchmaking API calls 1B Matchmaking API calls Matchmaking & Lobby Lobby API calls 2B Lobby API calls Matchmaking & Lobby Messages** 1.2B Messages *Note: Represents a mix of Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 volumns. Zone 1 = 85%, Zone 2 = 13%, Zone 3 = 2% **1M messages = 2GB outbound traffic - ID@Azure PlayFab benefits are valid for 2 years, starting from the date you choose to activate the PlayFab ID@Azure offer. Azure credits provided by Microsoft for Startups are valid for a minimum of 1 year, but can be extended as you level up through Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.
- Developers must be eligible to qualify for Azure credits, development tools and other benefits offered by Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub. The eligibility criteria are available .
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