Microsoft is counting on Titanfall to help spur sales of its Xbox One console, and so far, it looks like that’s happening.
Xbox One sales increased 96 percent last week in the UK according to data from UK-based Chart-Track. Nearly 70 percent of all Xbox One consoles sold last week in the UK were from Microsoft’s Xbox One Titanfall Bundle, which includes an Xbox One console, an Xbox One chat headset and one month of Xbox Live Gold — all for the same cost (£399) as the Xbox One by itself.
Titanfall is also already the top-selling game of 2014 in the UK, Chart-Track noted. The sci-fi shooter, developed by Respawn Entertainment and produced by Electronic Arts, is exclusively available for Xbox and PC platforms. Microsoft is hoping that the game increases sales of its next-generation console, which have lagged behind Sony’s PlayStation 4 both in the U.S. and worldwide.
Titanfall is taking the unusual approach of relying on Microsoft’s Azure cloud services, which up until now has mainly been hosting business applications. Shortly after Titanfall debuted this past Tuesday, thousands of excited gamers were left disappointed after sign-in problems with Xbox Live kept them offline for much of the day. Microsoft “sincerely apologized,” for the hiccup, but noted that connectivity issues were not related to Titanfall and that Xbox Live never “crashed,” because of the game.
