Microsoft Studio Director In deep water (For Dissing Gamers without Internet). New XBOX ALWAYS ONLINE #DEALWITHIT

A Microsoft Studios boss has dismissed criticism of always-on consoles, as more rumours emerge that the new Xbox can only be offline for three minutes at a time.

Microsoft Studios creative director Adam Orth has enraged fans with a condescending defence of always-on devices, tweeting: ‘Sorry, I don’t get the drama around having an ‘always online’ console’.

He then followed that up with: ‘Every device now is ‘always on’. That’s the world we live in. #dealwithit.’

Challenged over the fact that Internet connectivity in the U.S., let alone the rest of the world, was not always reliable he then replied: ‘Why on earth would I live there?’

Bizarrely he then continued digging a hole for himself and when asked by BioWare’s Manveer Heir whether he’d learnt anything from the debacle of the SimCity launch Orth compared the problems to a power cut and said: ‘electricity goes out, too’.

When he finally realised what a public relations disaster he was being Orth then changed his Twitter feed so that only confirmed followers can see it.

Orth’s comments are essentially the best evidence so far that the next generation Xbox does require a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, Internet connection. Although his outburst was likely inspired by new insider info from website Kotaku, which also seems to reinforce the rumours.

‘Unless something has changed recently, Durango consumer units must have an active internet connection to be used,’ said one source – Durango being the codename for the new Xbox.

‘If there isn’t a connection, no games or apps can be started. If the connection is interrupted then after a period of time – currently three minutes, if I remember correctly – the game/app is suspended and the network troubleshooter started’.

Kotaku does note however that some of their other Microsoft sources are unaware of these plans, although they don’t rule out the possibility that they simply wouldn’t have been told at this stage.

It certainly adds to the weight of previous rumours, all of which point to the new Xbox requiring some sort of online check to confirm a game has been bought legitimately, similar to PC games such as Diablo III and SimCity.