NEWS - Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Network Traffic Up 80% since Gears of War Release
North American service providers observe 80% increase in Xbox Live users. Sandvine Incorporated identified a surge in Xbox Live traffic on North American broadband networks following the release of new Xbox 360 games. Through the use of its intelligent broadband network solution, Sandvine observed an 80% increase in the number of Xbox Live users across a sampling of North American-based broadband service providers’ networks during the first week following the release of six new Xbox games. On November 7, 2006, Microsoft released six new games for Xbox 360, including the highly anticipated release of Gears of War, which sold 1-million copies in the first two weeks. This spike in Xbox Live traffic following the launch of a highly anticipated game is reminiscent of Halo II’s release in 2004, marking the first boom in online gaming and resulting in the sustainable popularity of Xbox Live. “The effect Gears of War and other games are having on networks indicates to service providers that online gaming is not just a craze. Their networks must be equipped to protect this increasingly valuable traffic from the effects of a best-effort network,” says Dave Caputo, president and CEO of Sandvine.Source: http://www.deltagamer.com/
