This episode is part of Cloud Gaming Levelled Up series and is powered by Azure

The world in changing; as gamers demand more from the games they play, game developers must also adjust how they develop games. Whether you want to build games faster, run them smarter or simply grow your community of players, this brand-new series provides an in-depth perspective on modern game development. Presented by Azure, lean all about game development in the cloud from a variety of game development professionals in the industry.

What is this session about?
In this first episode, you’ll learn about some of the considerations you need to make for game development in the cloud, how acclaimed UK game studio Rare managed to get their game engineers up and running from home within two weeks of lockdown, and how the ID@Azure program can help you take full advantage of Microsoft’s cloud services to accelerate your game’s development. This is followed by a panel discussion on what cloud native game development means and why it is important to your game's success.

Who is it aimed at?
This is for game developers interested in cloud services but not sure where to start and for those just starting their cloud journey who want to learn more about extending deeper into cloud.

Why should you attend?
A great opportunity to learn from the experiences of other game development professionals in the industry as you embark on your own cloud development journey. Plus, an exclusive opportunity before its full program launch to hear more about how the ID@Azure program can help you take full advantage of the cloud to build and grow your game.

Speaker Bio's
Nick Ferguson is the Director of ID@Azure, Microsoft’s new program that offers independent game developers’ free tools, resources, and support to quickly get started using cloud services.
Nick has over 15 years of experience in game development and publishing at companies like Electronic Arts, Eidos and Xbox where he worked on game franchises including Burnout, Tomb Raider and Gears of War. More recently, Nick worked supporting game developers adopt cloud services at both Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud before returning to launch ID@Azure at Microsoft.
Nick is based in London, UK. His favourite game of all time changes on any given day but is almost certainly an old Nintendo title.

Harvey Eagle is a well-known figure in the UK games industry scene.
He has spent 21 years at Microsoft as part of team Xbox and was in charge of the UK Xbox business for seven years between 2012 and 2019. He’s held various marketing positions across Europe and was most recently global director for Xbox Live product marketing.
He is now the Azure gaming director for the UK, with a remit to drive adoption of Microsoft cloud services with UK game creators.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Eagle spent 10 years in the music business as a talent scout (A&R).