Microsoft and EA working on a new partnership for the next-gen Xbox, though software exclusives remain unlikely.

The latest round of next-gen speculation has suggested an upcoming partnership between EA and Microsoft. The rumoured collaboration, which suggests timed exclusives for downloadable content as opposed to the idea of Battlefield 4 not coming to the PlayStation 4, will allegedly be made public when Microsoft debuts its next Xbox.

Two anonymous sources reported the supposed deal to CVG, though neither knew exact specifics about what EA and Microsoft will announce.

EA was absent from the PlayStation 4 announcement last week outside of a brief flash of its company logo. Chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen last night explained the publisher's absence as EA's "timing of our own slate as well as trying to maintain a good balance of power with all the parties out there" during yesterday's Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference.

Microsoft is expected to unveil its next Xbox in April, ahead of a second showing of the machine at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.

EA and Sony have had a special relationship across many games on the PlayStation 3. Sony previously enjoyed a one-week exclusivity period for all Battlefield 3 DLC, and the announced-but-still-unseen Battlefield 4 will almost certainly be a major part of EA's plans for the next year. Microsoft, on the other hand, has had Call of Duty DLC all sewn up with exclusivity deals since Modern Warfare 2 launched in 2009.

Meanwhile, Activision announced as part of the PlayStation 4 unveiling last week that upcoming Bungie-helmed open-world shooter Destiny will contain exclusive content on Sony's next-generation console.

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