Gears of War: the cause of high Xbox Live traffic

You know why Xbox Live is filled with people these days? It’s Gears of War, we tell you! In fact, we found someone who agrees with this observation.

The Sandvine Corporation decided to have a look at the broadband usage on Microsoft‘s online service, and the results do seem to fit. They noted an 80 percent increase in Xbox Live usage during the week of November 13. Seven days before, six new games were released, and one of them was Epic Games‘ Gears of War. If you haven’t heard the news yet, it’s sold a sassamafrazznajillion copies in the US and has dethroned Halo 2 as multiplayer king.

What does it mean in gaming terms? Comparatively speaking, the last time a large surge in Xbox Live usage occurred was immediately after Halo 2. Take this to be confirmation that GoW really is the Halo 2 of the Xbox 360 (till Halo 3 comes out). While Halo 3 is still going to take a while, you can definitely be sure that all eyes (and thumbs, and swearing voices) will be on Marcus Fenix and his brokeback buddies.

You know why Xbox Live is filled with people these days? It’s Gears of War, we tell you! In fact, we found someone who agrees with this observation.

The Sandvine Corporation decided to have a look at the broadband usage on Microsoft‘s online service, and the results do seem to fit. They noted an 80 percent increase in Xbox Live usage during the week of November 13. Seven days before, six new games were released, and one of them was Epic Games‘ Gears of War. If you haven’t heard the news yet, it’s sold a sassamafrazznajillion copies in the US and has dethroned Halo 2 as multiplayer king.

What does it mean in gaming terms? Comparatively speaking, the last time a large surge in Xbox Live usage occurred was immediately after Halo 2. Take this to be confirmation that GoW really is the Halo 2 of the Xbox 360 (till Halo 3 comes out). While Halo 3 is still going to take a while, you can definitely be sure that all eyes (and thumbs, and swearing voices) will be on Marcus Fenix and his brokeback buddies.