English
Gamereactor
news

MS limiting Xbox Live due to huge increase in demand

With half the world sent home, there is a 775 per cent increase in demand for Live services.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

As previously reported, the likes of Netflix, Youtube and Disney+ have decided to lower the quality of their streams to make sure there's enough bandwidth for everyone during the coronavirus crisis. Sony has decided to do the same thing and lowered download speeds on PSN, and now Microsoft has decided to take action as a consequence of enormous demand for online services.

In a lengthy blog post, Microsoft explains that it had a whopping "775 percent increase of our cloud services in regions that have enforced social distancing". As a result of this, the company is now taking precautions:

"We're actively monitoring performance and usage trends to ensure we're optimizing services for gamers worldwide. At the same time, we're taking proactive steps to plan for high-usage periods, which includes taking prudent measures with our publishing partners to deliver higher-bandwidth activities like game updates during off-peak hours."

This is further explained on the Xbox Support page, and it turns out that updates during off-peak hours isn't the only change coming, as Microsoft has also turned off things such as custom gamerpics:

"As people look to gaming for social connection, we're seeing record numbers across Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live, and Mixer. To streamline moderation and ensure the best experience for our community, we're making small adjustments. We've temporarily turned off the ability to upload custom gamerpics, club pics, and club backgrounds."

Are you using the Xbox services more during these trying times?

MS limiting Xbox Live due to huge increase in demand


Loading next content