Case Study: The Coalition Studio achieves a 700-core virtual supercomputer and dramatically faster shader and code builds — enabling two AAA game releases in one year with Microsoft Azure

The Coalition Transforms Azure VMs into a 700-Core IncrediBuild "Virtual Supercomputer" and Releases Two AAA Games in One Year

Microsoft’s The Coalition Studio, the Microsoft-owned developer behind the Gears of War franchise, faced a major production bottleneck during back-to-back AAA projects: Unreal Engine 4 shader and code compilations that could make opening a level take up to 30 minutes. With more than 100 daily UE4 users and several smaller third‑party partners lacking adequate hardware, these waits threatened productivity and timelines during critical development periods.

To solve this, The Coalition combined Microsoft Azure with IncrediBuild’s process‑level virtualization, pooling dozens of 64‑core Azure VMs into a 700‑core “virtual supercomputer” (with ExpressRoute VPNs to appear local) and even provisioning ~160 cores for partners. Without buying on‑premises gear, the studio dramatically cut shader and build times, sped iterative cycles and supported the release of two AAA games in one year.

The Coalition Studio

Joe Vogt

IT Manager