Microsoft and consulting partner EY have announced the expansion of an Azure-powered blockchain platform for gaming rights and royalty management.

EYand Microsoft previously announced the platform in 2018, initially launching with select Xbox partners such as Ubisoft.

Now the expanded solution will roll out to the wider Xbox ecosystem of content creators and rights holders. The blockchain-based solution cuts royalties management processing time by 99%, allowing for near-instant calculation of royalties and greater visibility into tracking and payment processing.

In this go-live, we successfully generated the first round of partner payments utilizing blockchain and smart contract technology, said Luke Fewel, GM of global finance operations, Microsoft. This expanded solution will help streamline financial and operational processes with the ability to scale, reduce heavy manual overhead, and improve the experience for Microsofts gaming partners. We look forward to continuing to scale this solution across our royalties ecosystem improving our processes and the continuation of our modern finance journey.

The Xbox enterprise blockchain platform uses AI to create contracts faster, integrates statements and invoices with existing ERP applications, and incorporates compliance standards to function as a financial system of record. It is capable of processing two million transactions per day, according to Microsoft.

Microsofts Xbox division recently launched its next generation of gaming consoles with the Series X. Microsofts ownership of Xbox has given the gaming platform a distinct advantage in infrastructure over the years, with Xboxs online experience vastly outpacing Sony and Nintendo. Now the companys partners will be able to leverage superior royalties management processes, benefiting from the specific resource advantages of Xboxs parent company.

The ability to maintain trusted data with near real-time transparency, combined with the flexibility of an application-specific platform, can deliver immediate business value by reducing cost and improving trust, said Dave Padmos, EY Americas TMT leader. We expect that this will continue to be a notable trend and growing need across all industries. The collaboration between EY and Microsoft is another step in our alliance as we team to develop transformative solutions that enable organizations to become adaptive digital enterprises that apply innovative technologies to deliver immediate and long-term value.

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EY and Microsoft's Xbox division expand blockchain royalties platform - Consulting.us