Microsoft is apparently working on “cloud-specific” functionality that will be a part of the Xbox platform going forward. While confirmed at GDC China by architect and evangelist Brian Price, he did not reveal much more than that. (He claims that he would get fired if he said much more.)

What he did suggest is that more cloud functionality, including cloud specific gaming, is coming for the Xbox platform. It apparently is already in development and being used in some cases already. It was not clear from the comments if Price is talking about features that will be accessible by the current generation of Xbox, or whether this is cloud functionality that will only be accessible by the next generation of Xbox.

It is believed that the future of the Xbox will be built around the Microsoft Azure SDK, which will allow developers to save things such as game saves and game stats; even possible is resumption of games in the cloud and perhaps even across multiple devices, meaning perhaps a console, web browser, and maybe a mobile device.

Sony has already been experimenting with cloud technology, but so far it has been limited to game saves and only for PS Plus members. Of course, we expect Microsoft to one-up Sony with its cloud offering. The cloud save option was apparently to be slated for the next dashboard upgrade, but right now it isn’t clear if that is still part of the plan or not. It is safe to say that cloud functionality will be a big part of the future for consoles, however.