Since it’s inception, the PS4 has been rumored to require an internet connection at all times. Sony has said they were opposed to it in the past, but now has definitively ruled out the idea in an interview with Gameinformer (read by Game Everything, will post confirmation once I receive my copy of GI).

Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida explained the decision “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.”

This is very good news for gamers everywhere, as always online DRM has been shown to still not work properly with titles like Diablo 3 & SimCity (which still hasn’t even recovered!).

The next question becomes, will the next Xbox require an always online connection? A recent leaked internal document would say no, but we will likely find out for certain when Microsoft unveils their next console on May 21st or at E3.

Another major question that both of these companies need to answer is will it allow the playing of used games? Both have been rumored to not allow it, but if I had to guess both will allow it for this generation but push digital sales much harder. Once digital sales are more common (similar to how digital sales have become huge on PC thanks to Steam) the next console will likely lock games to your specific account (PURE SPECULATION, take this with a grain of salt).

With Sony officially ruling out an always online requirement for the PS4, does that make you feel any better about buying it? If Microsoft’s next Xbox requires an always online connection, will that change your choice of which console to buy? Let us know in the comments below!

By, Bobby Marquardt