Xbox 360 Cloud Storage Isn't Being Launched Just Yet, Microsoft Says

Microsoft has denied starting to roll out the Xbox 360 cloud storage service, debunking several rumors that appeared earlier this week, pointing to the arrival of the first games that support the new feature.

The cloud is starting to make its presence felt in the gaming industry these days, with companies like OnLive offering cloud gaming, effectively streaming gameplay straight to the home of the players, or Valve's Steam, which has its own cloud service that keeps user preferences as well as save games stored for easy access when logging onto new computers.

Microsoft is set to follow in the efforts of these companies, as its Xbox 360 console is scheduled to receive the cloud storage service soon.

According to a recent report, the roll-out was already underway, with several games popping onto the Xbox Live Marketplace with support for save files stored in the cloud and not just onto the console.

This is false, however, as Microsoft issued a statement to Joystiq, clarifying the whole subject and revealing that the service isn't available just yet.

"Just confirmed that the [cloud storage] service has not gone live yet," a Microsoft spokesperson revealed to the website. "We'll keep you posted on launch details."

The Xbox 360 cloud services were announced last month, with the company confirming that owners of the console are going to be able to upload their own save games onto the cloud, but also gamertag information, making the recovery of the online identity much more simple, as users just need to sync up their profile with the one stored on the web.

As of yet, however, the service is still being tested behind closed doors, but it's safe to assume that before the end of the year, Xbox 360 owners can bask in the glory of knowing that their information is stored in the cloud.