Titanfall: Xbox Live recovers after jitters; fans hold their breath for UK launch
For a game that's online-only working servers are a must
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Your support makes all the difference.There's bad news for Titanfall fans expecting a smooth UK launch. Already in the US the much-hyped sci-fi shooter has been hamstrung by Xbox Live outages.
Given that the newly released game (it goes on sale in the UK this Friday) is an online-only title this is more than bad news – it’s potentially catastrophic, not just for fans but for Microsoft who are hoping that Titanfall will help shift Xbox Ones (so much so that they’ve slashed prices with a new bundle).
The Xbox Live team got the service back online in the early hours of Wednesday morning GMT but Microsoft’s Major Nelson has said that the outage had nothing to do with Titanfall, but did not offer any other explanation.
It’s hard to know what else the problem might be, as opening-night jitters are common for major console launches. Grand Theft Auto 5 Online faced similar wobbles when it launched last September, with thousands eager players clawed simultaneously at the game’s servers.
Microsoft are hoping that Titanfall will help them closing the growing divide between Xbox One and PS4 sales, but if the UK launch on Friday doesn’t go smoothly it might not be a good sign for the console’s future.
Regardless though, Titanfall has been extremely well received by critics. There may be some gripes over the single-player campaign and the lack of any plot, but by all accounts the sci-fi shooter has given new life to the ailing FPS genre and is set to be as much of a hit as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
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