Sony ‘didn’t consider’ always-online PS4 restrictions

Worldwide Studios boss claims the topic never came up

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida claims the topic of a PlayStation 4 locked down by always-on DRM restrictions never came up. While rumors of such things surround talk of the Next Xbox, Yoshida’s sure to put some minds at rest.

“Did we consider it? No, we didn’t consider it,” he claims in a Game Informer interview. “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.”

Yep! That is but one of several reasons why an always-online console would be a terrible idea, and I’m glad Sony at least has its head screwed on in that regard. Latest word is that Microsoft will not be doing it either, but the amount of rumors about the upcoming Xbox seem to indicate it at least considered it, going mentally further than Sony claims to have. 

The very fact the idea existed, even as a theoretical, disgusts me. But hey, at least Sony seems to have no intention of screwing both itself and its consumers in the pursuit of yet more toothless anti-piracy placebos. That’s good. 

Yoshida: Making PS4 always-online was never considered [Gaming Everything]

James Stephanie Sterling