Xbox 720 ‘Always Online’ Rumor Debunked

Xbox 720’s “always online” rumor has been debunked in a supposed internal memo from Microsoft.

One of the biggest rumors created around Microsoft’s next generation console was that the gaming system would require a constant internet connection to function. After an ex-creative director started a controversial argument on Twitter about how it would always be online, with the hashtag #dealwithit, gamers were outraged and the rumor was considered a fact.

Potential Xbox 720 consumers likely pledged their allegiance to Sony when they realized the next generation console from Microsoft would require something that you would need to live in a big city to even access. Many an article and many a blog was written, and many a fist shaken, condemning Microsoft for their refusal to listen to their fans.

Apparently, the rumor may have been just that; a rumor. According to an internal memo from Microsoft, the “always online” aspect of the Xbox 720 has been debunked. The email was sent to all full-time employees working on the next Xbox, obtained by Ars Technica:

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

This also brings up other factors that may have initially turned potential Xbox 720 owners away. The next generation console may just play Blu-ray discs and function as a cable box, allowing owners to watch TV with it. And those of us who never play our games online can rest assured that we don’t have to.

This is an interesting turn of events after the whole Twitter mess, and Microsoft may have won some previously annoyed fans back with it.

What do you think of the Xbox 720 not needing an “always online” connection?