Unlimited cloud storage for Xbox One: Microsoft

At the recent PAX Australia, Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox Live network would offer cloud storage for gamers, augmenting the console’s 500GB of local storage with unlimited storage capacity in the cloud.

Microsoft says that this additional storage would not be charged for, and will not require a Gold subscription to use the service.

Microsoft announced at their press event in May 2013 that their Xbox Live network would play host to a huge boost in overall server availability; a global network of 300,000 servers.

Other promised capabilities that have been discussed since then, include cloud game rendering, adaptive AI, and increased dedicated server availability.

Says Microsoft:

“Xbox Live offers Xbox One unlimited storage space in the cloud for all Xbox Live members to store numerous types of Xbox Live content, including your profile, games, achievements and entertainment.

This content is stored and saved in the cloud so you can automatically access it anywhere, anytime, no matter where you are.

Perhaps this is Microsoft’s attempt at running up against other online cloud services such as Spotify and iCloud with regards to streaming music and movies, but they haven’t actually explained how this will all work.

There’s no mention about how the licenses for entertainment will work and Microsoft specifically says that the content will be available wherever you are, presumably so long as you have an internet connection – so, is this technically a streaming service?

Xbox One is shown during a press event unveiling by Microsoft in Redmond – click to enlarge

One way in which this could actually be useful is saving your game installs to your cloud storage for later use. If you have a Gold subscription and download one of the free games on offer and then save that game install online, it may be possible to access that game and play it when you’ve decided to not renew your subscription for whatever reason.

That would be a good use of a service like that, but this is entirely hypothetical at this point.

Sony’s Playstation Plus service

Sony Playstation Plus for PS4

On Sony’s PS Plus service, subscribers are offered free games, access to multi-player services on the Playstation 4, cloud saves, profiles, and some other user data. However, it does not save content that you may have put onto the console such as movies, music, and other videos. Sony does not offer that functionality, as the Playstation Network is all about games.

However, the free games on offer do have a drawback that Microsoft may be countering with this announcement. On PS Plus, free games are added and remain on your account so long as you have downloaded them at least once and continue to pay your subscription. However, you may not play the game/games when it’s installed to your console if you don’t renew your PS Plus subscription.

The Playstation Plus subscription covers the Playstation 3, PS Vita and the upcoming Playstation 4, offering free games across all three platforms every month.