Sources .

Speaking on Twitter last week, Orth made headlines have saying "sorry, I don't get the drama around having an 'always on' console. Every device now is 'always on'. That's the world we live in." He then used the hashtag "#dealwithit."

Orth continued, saying that people should "definitely get with the times and get the internet" and that "I want every device to be 'always on.'"

The comments, which arrived off the back of another wave of rumours , provoked anger in many corners of the gaming community.

Microsoft later took steps to distance itself from Orth's "inappropriate" comments, issuing a statement saying "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."

Orth had joined Microsoft in 2012 as a creative director on a currently unannounced project. He had previously worked on God of War 3 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.