Microsoft Studio’s Creative Director Speaks About An Always-On Requirement

Adam Orth, Creative Director at Microsoft Studios, would probably know whether the next Xbox has the oft-rumoured, hugely controversial always-on connection requirement. Yesterday new citations surfaced that pointed to two individual sources saying this is the case, which has caused at least one Microsoft employee to speak up.

It’s worth noting that Tweets don’t always represent the views of an employer, of course, but Adam Orth said last night that he didn’t “get the drama around having an ‘always on’ console”, saying that “every device now is ‘always on’. That’s the world we live in.”

“#dealwithit,” he added.

Well, judging by comments on our site, consumers will deal with it by not really getting very excited about the console. Hardly the most comprehensive market research but remember the Xbox has always had issues with piracy and if all this is true it’s not hard to find reason for doing it.

But, anyway, back to this story. After Adam was queried what this might mean for those without an internet connection, he replied that “those people should definitely get with the times and get the internet,” adding that “it’s awesome.”

“Sometimes the electricity goes out,” he tweeted, “I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner.”

Adam’s tweets are protected but screengrabs of when they were public are available at both the source links below. It’s a very strange situation – although Adam makes no reference to a specific Xbox console it’s not hard to read between the lines, even if we’re reading it completely wrong.

Does this mean the next Xbox will require an always-on connection? No, of course not. Microsoft haven’t even acknowledged the new machine publicly, and everything and anything can change before they do. But it does make you wonder if that was the plan at some point.

And now surely Microsoft has to respond…

Via GAF, Kotaku.