In a statement, Microsoft said: “The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services. Sony’s existing game and content-streaming services will also be powered by Microsoft Azure in the future."

A spokesVole added: “these efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community."

Details are still pretty light, but it does seem the pair will build a cloud and collaborate on cloud gaming. This will be a kick in the nadgers for Amazon and it might be a sign that the two gaming giants are worried about Google's rise in the sector.

Google unveiled its Stadia game streaming service earlier this year, and the company will use YouTube to push it to the masses.  Stadia will stream games from the cloud to the Chrome browser, Chromecast, and Pixel devices. Sony already has a cloud gaming service, but Microsoft is promising trials of its own xCloud gaming service later this year. Microsoft’s gaming boss, Phil Spencer, has also promised the company will “go big” for E3.

The pair will collaborate on semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). This will include intelligent image sensor solutions that use Azure AI, and Sony using Microsoft’s AI platform in its consumer products.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: “Sony has always been a leader in entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation. Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.”