In the wake of former Microsoft employee Adam Orth's controversial tweeted defense of the next Xbox's rumored always-online features (and his subsequent departure from Microsoft Studios), legendary game designer Cliff Bleszinski has come out publicly in support of Orth's comments, saying that those unhappy about an always-online future should "deal with it."

Bleszinski, who left Gears of War maker Epic games last October to take a break from game development, writes on his personal Tumblr that he thinks the time when most devices require a consistent Internet connection is coming sooner than later. "My gut is telling me that an always online future is probably coming," he wrote. "It’s coming fast, and possibly to the majority of the devices you enjoy."

While some gamers are still loudly complaining about the required server connections in PC games like SimCity and Diablo 3, Bleszinski notes that the former game is "selling briskly," and the latter has moved over 12 million units. "I would bet money that without the always online elements of Diablo 3 that it would have sold half of that," Bleszinski wrote, pointing an implicit finger at software piracy as the main reason for always-online requirements.

What about situations where people might want to play a game or console in some remote location without reliable high-speed Internet? Bleszinski replies that such situations are "the edge case... the week-long vacation to the cabin is only 30 hours of not playing a game or a device that’s built for much more. Technology doesn’t advance by worrying about the edge case." (Emphasis in original.)

He also pointed out that Microsoft's decision not to support dial-up connections on the original Xbox 360 was seen as a "bold move" in 2005, but that technology quickly caught up to the company's decision. "Well behaved people rarely make history. Deal with it," he summed up.

As far as Orth's departure from Microsoft, Bleszinski noted that we'll never know what really happened behind the scenes, but he still decried the Internet mob mentality that developed around Orth's statements. "If I departed from Epic every time I said something dumb I wouldn’t have made it the last 10 years there."