Rumour: Microsoft Claim New Xbox Is “Engineered To Be Tolerant Of today’s Internet”

According to a report on Ars Technica, Microsoft have emailed all their full-time employees to say that the new Xbox won’t require an always-on internet connection.

Quite why Microsoft would do this is anyone’s guess at this point – with a full reveal due on the 21st of May – but there you go. It’s contrary to earlier discussion on the matter.

“Durango is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today’s Internet,” the email apparently states.

“There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.”

Previous rumours, initially circulated by Edge magazine, claimed the new Xbox would need to be online for everything.

An always-on console isn’t a great idea, we’ve debated.

22 Comments

  1. Interesting, the rumoured bluray playback being blocked was also false it seems .. and “watching live tv” while offline would point toward some sort of built-in sat/cable tuner ..?
    Looking forward to the proper reveal.

  2. as others have mentioned what a weird and interesting email. It sounds like one of those emails you send out when youre pissed at everybody. The whole “and yes” part just sounds so negative, like youre talking down to your kids. Theres been some interesting rumors about what the next Xbox can and cant do, which is starting to make the reveal alot more interesting then before.
    If this is true it sounds like MS is taking a zero tolerance stand against always on, but I’d like to know how you’ll be able to watch live TV without some kind of internet connection.

  3. Ah, Agent Back-Track.

    Please take a seat. We’ve been… expecting you.

    Good to see you survived the ‘Instagram incident’. That was a tough one.

    Tea? Coffee? Or would you like something a little stronger? (**sniggers***) After all, when you see the next job, I think you might be needing it…

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