Traffic Explodes After Halo 2 Launch

Posted on December 8, 2004

The successful launch of Halo 2, which has already sold over 5 million copies, has led to concerns that some ISPs will not be able to cope with the needs of the high bandwidth using gamers. Traffic to the Xbox gaming network has quadrupled since the game's release in November. If there is not enough bandwidth available it can diminish the fun of the game.

The BBC offered a good analysis in a recent news story about what happens when there is not enough bandwidth for online gamers: "One of the main factors that spoils online gaming is 'lag' in which there is a noticeable delay between a gamer clicking on a mouse or keyboard and what happens in the online gaming world. Gamers tend to migrate toward networks with the lowest 'lag'."

If gaming follows what happened with ecommerce then eventually the networks will find a way to compensate for the surge in bandwidth use. In the early days of online shopping retailers were often overwhelmed by hoards of shoppers -- but they have far less trouble dealing with high traffic demands these days. However, it is also possible that individuals using copious amounts of bandwidth could find themselves facing an extra bill in the future.