Tag: xbox

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Video game industry experiences slow growth in 2024

Game console

The video game industry is experiencing sluggish growth in 2024 for several reasons

Slow console sales

Gaming console sales have not met expectations. For example, sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 have decreased from 3.3 million units in the same period last year to 2.4 million units in the fiscal first quarter of 2024.

Post-Pandemic

The gaming industry experienced a substantial increase during the COVID-19 pandemic due to people staying indoors more often. Yet, with the easing of restrictions, there has been a noticeable change in consumer habits, with a trend towards increased outdoor activities.

Economic considerations

Increased interest rates and inflation have diminished discretionary income, leading to a decrease in consumer spending on games.

Challenges

The industry has faced mass layoffs and other operational challenges, which have impacted growth.

Despite these challenges, there are optimistic projections for 2025 with anticipated major releases like the eagerly awaited successor to Nintendo’s Switch console and Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI.

Future

Predictions for 2025 suggest that the new Nintendo console and GTA VI will make a significant impact, potentially revitalizing the industry.

The U.S. and China account for around half of consumer spending on games.

The gaming industry as a whole is currently estimated to be worth around $188 billion globally and this is projected to grow in 2025.

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Xbox gaming platform goes offline

System outage

Microsoft has confirmed problems with accessing its Xbox gaming platform and Teams messaging app in the UK and Europe have now been resolved.

More than 1500 people in the UK reported issues with Xbox Live, according to the outage tracker Downdetector. A similar number also said there were problems with the Teams app.

It left some who had purchased the latest game in the Call of Duty series unable to play. But Microsoft said this had since been fixed.

An artificial increase in synthetic network traffic – whatever that is

On X, Microsoft said the services were impacted by ‘an artificial increase in synthetic network traffic’. Could someone please explain to me what this actually means…? Microsoft went on to say: ‘We’ve made configuration changes to remediate impact and after monitoring the service, we’ve confirmed the issue is now resolved.’ Microsoft previously said it had ‘identified some anomalies within our network infrastructure’. Really, what do these explanations actually explain?

Problem unique to UK & Europe

The problem was unique to customers in the UK and Germany, Microsoft had said earlier on Friday, but it was also reported, on social media, that people in Sweden, Finland and Poland had been unable to access services.

There were reports from both of these countries on Downdetector, as well as other European countries.