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Though Microsoft has changed its stance on the digital rights management-based requirements for the Xbox One, the company remains committed to cloud computing.
"Our vision around Xbox One and what you can do because of the power of both the architecture of the console, and also the cloud and the Xbox Live service, remains unchanged," Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten told Joystiq.
When asked why Microsoft would not simply offer an offline mode akin to the one featured on Steam, Whitten said "that's absolutely" what Microsoft is doing.
Whitten listed a host of examples of how cloud computing still exists as part of the Xbox One plan, noting players will "see great games like Titanfall take advantage of the cloud processing power" as well as have the ability to get games from the online marketplace and use them on any console.
"We're going to continue to really invest in how those experiences work," Whitten added.
During E3 2013, Fairfax "Mackey" McCandlish, lead designer on the always-online Titanfall, told Joystiq that cloud computing on the Xbox One allows Respawn to "spin off dedicated servers" whenever it wants. "Instead of having everything prepared ahead of time, or misallocate different areas, or have some places be too slow or too much, we can just say 'cloud, find us the right number of computers,'" he added.
