Sony's Azure-powered cloud strategy will be 'only on PlayStation'

More cloud talk is on the way.

What you need to know

• Microsoft and Sony entered a strategic cloud partnership in 2019.
• Sony's cloud plans are still in development.
• Whatever Sony cooks up will be PlayStation exclusive.

Wondering what the news is on Sony's in-development cloud strategy? Well, keep waiting because even though the company entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft back in 2019 to enhance its cloud capabilities and utilize Azure, word on what the fruits of that partnership's labors will be is still pretty vague. The big thing that we know now is that whatever Sony creates for its cloud gaming ambitions will be PlayStation exclusive.

In an interview with Nikkei (translated by VGC), President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan mentioned that Sony is still conversing with Microsoft regarding exchanging ideas, which include "some very interesting stuff." But that's not all the news we received about Sony's PS5 cloud strategy.

"We could conceivably use the cloud for our technical infrastructure, but the cloud gaming experience we're offering will be unique and only on PlayStation," Ryan said, revealing that Sony's cloud service is planned for PS users only. Ryan goes on to say, in response to a question on whether cloud tech will disrupt PlayStation's traditional hardware cycle, that "at the end of the cycle, the cloud may play some role. I'm more optimistic about the future than I was a year ago."

Ryan then circled back to discussing how the PS5 is still a new release, so Sony's priority is seeing how consumers react to the console before it dives into the uncharted (heh) waters of future PlayStation endeavors.

That's the scoop. As of now, no PlayStation cloud services are slated to come to the Xbox Series X, meaning no God of War on Xbox. You'll just have to stick with the best Xbox games if Microsoft's console is the one gaming box you own.