There were many rumors and concerns that the PS4 would be a device that would both block used games and require users to always be online. However, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida shot down both of those rumors in a post-press conference interview.
“That’s the general expectation by consumers,” said Yoshida. “They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right So that’s my expectation.”
“Yes, you can go offline totally,” added Yoshida. “Social is big for us, but we understand there are some people who are anti-social! So if you don’t want to connect to anyone else, you can do that. You can play offline, but you may want to keep it connected. The system has the low-power mode – I don’t know the official term – that the main system is shut down but the subsystem is awake. Downloading or updating or you can wake it up using either the tablet, smartphone or PS Vita.”
