The console war between PlayStation and Xbox still runs online today. Although it’s not as prominent from years ago, gamers still care about dunking on the competition.
On July 2, Xbox Live services experienced an outage which lasted for about six hours. During the outage, many players were unable to play online games like Call of Duty and Fortnite.
More concerning is the inability to play single-player games, even with a disc. Some were able to find a work around but it’s ridiculous to require an internet connection to play offline single-player games via a disc.
Xbox Live Outage Is A Win For PlayStation
When the Microsoft giant announced problems with players disconnecting with the live service, no one was able to play games online. Any multiplayer experience that required an internet connection would not work due to the outage.
The solution would be to play a game offline or play on a different platform for the time being. However, anyone trying to play on the Microsoft console offline might run into some issues. A Twitter/X user tried to play Persona 5 Royal on their Xbox console.
Fine example why always online bullshit is dangerous. I CANNOT PLAY A DISK BASED SINGLE PLAYER GAME?!?
— Tim (@nitpicktim) July 2, 2024
This is absolutely ridiculous xbox needs to fix and revert this decision ASAP cuz it’s clearly not working out 🤬 #xboxoutage pic.twitter.com/Fvz5JfzIAM
Despite having a disc copy, the console would try to connect to sign in to the Xbox Live servers. By doing this, the player was unable to play the single-player game because of the outage.
The Twitter/X user did eventually find a solution about one hour later, thanks to the many replies his post received. Disconnecting the LAN cable and restarting the console, the player can now enjoy Persona 5 Royal without signing in to the servers.
We all miss those consoles with CD games with no internet needed 🥺😭
— Albert Von 💬 (@AlbertVonLich) July 2, 2024
The fact players have to disconnect the LAN cable to continue gaming during an outage is wild. PS5 players don’t have to work around console settings to play games offline, a server outage or otherwise.
Always Online – Good Or Bad For Console Gaming?
The idea of “always being connected” for consoles has never worked. Anyone who remembers E3 2013 is where PlayStation effectively won the console war over Xbox before the products were even released. While Microsoft stayed on course for the “always online” approach, PlayStation allowed users to never be connected.
but it's a disc game why is online needed?
— Gaming in Peace (@Gaming_in_Peace) July 3, 2024
Not to say an “always online” console won’t happen in the future. It’s definitely in the cards as we become more connected online each and every day. However, for the time in 2013 and even today in 2024, players still don’t want that in gaming consoles.
The latest situation with the live service outage accompanied by players who simply wanted to play single-player games is a key example. Having a digital rights management system (DRM) in place does not work.
There will always be players who only play single-player games and don’t need an internet connection for their gaming experiences. Enforcing a live service connection for all players is a recipe for disaster.
What do you think of the recent server outage? Let us know in the comments what you think!
