PS4 will not require 24-hour internet connection to work

Sony’s upcoming gaming console PS4 will not need require of the gamers to have an internet connection in order to play games. This fanned speculations that PS4 will need to be always on. It is turning out Sony technicians were never planning anything of the sort.

The president of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida recently talked to a game magazine where he talked about the upcoming console. The interview is available to subscribers.

During the interview Yoshida was asked if PS4 will always need to be online. Yoshida’s reply was: “Did we consider it? No, we didn’t consider it. The main reason being that many countries don’t have robust Internet connections. It makes sense for people to have Internet connections to play online games, but for offline games there are many countries that we saw do not really have robust Internet.”

In other words the company is aware the always online requirement will hurt its sales, especially in places where internet connectivity is poor.

This is the future. Next generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Nintendo will not require a 24-hour internet connection to work. It will be curious to see if the American company Microsoft follows in the footsteps of PS4 and Wii U.