Addressing reporters during a recent press conference in London, Microsoft VP Phil Harrison said that the key focus of the software giant's new Soho-based studio - dubbed `Lift London' - will be on the creation of content for tablets and cloud services, along with promoting budding talent.

Asserting that the main mission of Microsoft's `Lift London' studio will be `to build games for the cloud itself,' Harrison also added that the company will also continue to support retail of physical game discs.

The `cloud' focus of the `Lift London' studio marks a noteworthy deviation from November reports that the studio's key objective would be to develop original games for tablets and mobile handsets; and expanding the reach of the Xbox brand much further than ever before.

Despite the fact that Harrison disclosure about `Lift London' studio's `cloud focus' does not imply that physical game discs could be on their way out, it does suggest that Microsoft opines that its future prospects will primarily depend on its strategic move from packaged products to connected services.

Noting that his aim is to "create from scratch a 21st century studio" which would chiefly "make games for the cloud, putting together the most incredible talent ever seen in a start-up," Harrison said that, in his opinion, the future of Microsoft's Xbox brand is "cloud centric" instead of "device centric."