[Update] Microsoft has released a new statement, which apologizes for the comments made on Twitter yesterday.

This new statement was released by official Xbox blogger Major Nelson. Here is the statement in full:

"We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers.  We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."

[Update] We received an official statement from Microsoft, via the company's PR firm Edelman, concerning the tweets sent by Microsoft Studios' creative director Adam Orth last evening.

The statement reads as follows:

"We are aware of the comments made by an employee on Twitter. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views are not reflective of those of the company.  We have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."

[Update] The Microsoft employee whose tweets ignited more speculation about an always-online console future has made his Twitter account private. Meanwhile, the BioWare employee who engaged in that initial Twitter exchange is defending his friend's comments.

"The initial comments are what they are and he has to answer that, but the 'why would I live there' stuff was him trolling me," wrote Manveer Heir, senior gameplay designer at BioWare, in tweets to Destructoid's Jim Sterling. "We're good friends and he was busting balls, forgetting it was online and public. Doesn't forgive the original sentiment at all."

As Sterling pointed out in his story about the tweets and the back and forth, the bits about cities weren't what made Microsoft creative director Adam Orth's posts seem so tone deaf. 

[Update] A user on the NeoGAF messageboard has found tweets from the creative director of Microsoft Studios that seem to reinforce the rumors of an always-on Internet gaming console.

This news comes via the gaming site StickSkills, which spotted the posts on NeoGAF. In the posts, Microsoft Studios' creative director Adam Orth posts a series of tweets that seems to defend the idea of an always-on connected console – and also seems to make fun of those gamers who have a problem with it. The tweets are below and speak for themselves.

[Original Story]

A new report corroborates earlier rumors which state that the next Xbox console will require an "always-on" Internet connection – and will require you to be online in order to load games.

Kotaku ran a report today that cited multiple anonymous sources who stated that gamers would have to have their console connected and logged into Microsoft's network in order to use games and apps.

One source cited in the article said, "Unless something has changed recently, Durango consumer units must have an active internet connection to be used. 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."

The rumors that the next Xbox will be online-only have been persistent, so it's likely that this is Microsoft's plan – or at least was the plan at some point during the development.

For more, read the original story on Kotaku.