is a new cloud server needed for V13?

[Eric Beser]

We are using the cloud server to store and retrieve our model for our distributed team.  I wanted to update to V13 but my team members may not be able to do so quickly.  I noted something on the download page that said that V13 uses a new communications protocol and may not connect to older versions.  If I update the cloud server will i be in effect forcing everyone to update to V13 immediately or lose communication with the server?  This was not made clear in the download page.  Will older releases still be able to communicate with the cloud server if I update?

[Eve]

There was a new version of the cloud service released a month or so ago.

Version 13 will make use of an additional function provided by the newer cloud service if it's available, but it isn't compulsory.

Both the older cloud service and newer have been tested with 12.1 and 13.0.