Sony has ruled out making always-online functionality a core part of its next home console, according to an interview in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine.

Sony president of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, said that a constant Internet connection would not be required from users, given the differences in web services available across the globe.

“Did we consider it? No, we didn’t consider it," said Yoshida. "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 [that] do not really have robust Internet.”

Microsoft is believed to be preparing to lift the veil on its own next-generation hardware offering on May 21. Months of rumour and speculation originally suggested that the next Xbox may require users to be connected to the internet at all times. However, a recently-uncovered, leaked internal memo reportedly sent to the Xbox development team suggests that the company’s next device will not require users to be online to watch live TV, view movies, or play single-player games.