It’s no secret that online platforms for video game consoles struggle under the weight of millions of gamers home for the holidays. Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms alike have had their online services crash over the years, often going down for multiple days, if not weeks. That often means that a lot of workers are having to maintain servers during Christmas and New Year’s Day. The least that can be done is offering a thank you to those workers, which is precisely what Xbox boss Phil Spencer did.
On Christmas day, Spencer shared a message on Twitter thanking all of the Xbox employees who have done such great work during the holidays. Specifically, he mentions those working on “the platforms, services, and games” that ensure “all owners of new games, new consoles and new gaming PCs have a great experience today.” The tweet’s replies are filled with video game fans, both on Xbox and other platforms, offering a similar thanks for everyone’s hard work.
Additionally, Spencer mentions how the Xbox team’s hard work has paid off. He notes that there are no “trending” outages or issues on the Xbox platform as a result of everyone’s efforts. Trending implying issues that are persistent or recurring. There’s always bound to be some individual issues with so many newcomers to a platform, but they’re apparently being managed well enough to not become something larger, or big enough to cascade. All major Xbox services remain online and running.
Obviously, Spencer‘s comment isn’t materially impactful on the situation. One would expect that any Microsoft or Xbox employees working on Christmas were already being generously rewarded for working on a holiday. No tweet will change their situation. Regardless, it’s good to remind gamers that the services they use rely on actual people, people who may miss Christmas with their families to help keep things running. If Spencer can use his platform to deliver that message, then it’s well worth the tweet.
Not all platforms have had as smooth of a Christmas as Xbox, unfortunately. Nintendo’s Switch online services went down Christmas evening and remained down into the next day. Nintendo’s team working Christmas day was quick to respond and Nintendo online services are working like normal once again. Nintendo’s team also deserves a major thank you, especially because things did go wrong.
The holiday season is hardly over, too. Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation platforms are certain to continue experiencing higher than normal service usage well into January. Christmas may have been a peak, but things won’t return to normal for some time. Hopefully, gamers’ thanks persist from her on.
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