Xbox Live users began experiencing sign-in difficulties after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) released its much-anticipated gaming title Titanfall on Tuesday. The Redmond-based company confirmed the issue. It showed error 0x8004804E when users tried to sign-in to Xbox Live, and asked them to try again in a few minutes.
Azure cloud servers disappoint Xbox Live users
Initial thought was that Titanfall caused the hiccup as millions of users tried to experience the game on its launch day. But Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, said Tuesday afternoon in a tweet that the company was aware of the issue, and it was not related to Titanfall. The Xbox Live service status yesterday listed the service as “Limited.” But now it is up and running. Titanfall has received positive reviews from critics. At around 11:00 PM EDT, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) said that it has restored the service. Users who are still experiencing any sign-in issues should try a cold reboot of their Xbox.
The game depends heavily on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Azure cloud servers. The software giant used Azure to ensure that a service outage like this didn’t happen. But even Azure couldn’t live up to expectations at a crucial time. That’s a big problem with a 100% online multiplayer game like Titanfall. Players had nothing to do until they waited for Xbox Live to return.
Xbox 360 was not affected by any such issue
The problem didn’t affect Xbox 360 users. Developed by Respawn Entertainment, and published by Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), Titanfall has been launched exclusively on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) platforms Xbox One and Windows. The title will also be made available on Xbox 360 on March 25. The software giant is relying on Titanfall to revive the sales of its Xbox One gaming consoles that have lagged behind rival Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) (TYO:6758)’s PlayStation 4. In January, Microsoft said it has sold 3 million Xbox One consoles since its release in November last year. Earlier this month, Sony said its PS4 sales have surpassed 6 million units worldwide.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were down 0.45% to $37.85 in pre-market trading Wednesday.
